CVE-2026-50023
Description
yt-dlp is a command-line audio/video downloader. Prior to 2026.06.09, a vulnerability exists in yt-dlp that allows a remote attacker to write arbitrary OS-shortcut files (such as .desktop, .url, .webloc) to the user's filesystem, bypassing the remediation for CVE-2024-38519. The allowlist explicitly included the unsafe extensions .desktop, .url, and .webloc so that the functionality of the --write-link option (and its variants) could be preserved. These allowlist inclusions can be exploited by an attacker to write malicious OS-shortcut files in the context of a media or subtitles download. This vulnerability is fixed in 2026.06.09.
How to fix
- yt-dlp_project yt-dlp2026.06.09 or later
- yt-dlp2026.6.9 or later
Affected products
| Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| yt-dlp_project yt-dlp | v < 2026.06.09 | 2026.06.09 |
| yt-dlpPyPI | v < 2026.6.9 | 2026.6.9 |
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