Critical severity · published Jun 23, 2026
CVE-2026-50023
yt-dlp: Dangerous file type creation via insufficient filename sanitization (Bypass of CVE-2024-38519)
9.6
CVSS
0.7%
EPSS
No
On KEV
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.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Changed
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.7% · higher than 52% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
YT
yt-dlp · yt-dlp
< 2026.06.09 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-50023
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-50023
Product
https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2026.06.09.230517
Patch
https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/e578e265f7c6ca94a74b30e0d8d6196a4d19fb6a
Product
https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.06.09
Exploit
https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-c6mh-fpjc-4pr3
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7.4
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