Vulnerability · Published Jul 2, 2024 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2024-38519yt-dlp and youtube-dl vulnerable to file system modification and RCE through improper file-extension sanitization
High 7.8
In plain English
A high-severity security flaw in yt-dlp from yt-dlp. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.3% (higher than 26% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
`yt-dlp` and `youtube-dl` are command-line audio/video downloaders. Prior to the fixed versions, `yt-dlp` and `youtube-dl` do not limit the extensions of downloaded files, which could lead to arbitrary filenames being created in the download folder (and path traversal on Windows). Since `yt-dlp` and `youtube-dl` also read config from the working directory (and on Windows executables will be executed from the `yt-dlp` or `youtube-dl` directory), this could lead to arbitrary code being executed. `yt-dlp` version 2024.07.01 fixes this issue by whitelisting the allowed extensions. `youtube-dl` fixes this issue in commit `d42a222` on the `master` branch and in nightly builds tagged 2024-07-03 or later. This might mean some very uncommon extensions might not get downloaded, however it will also limit the possible exploitation surface. In addition to upgrading, have `.%(ext)s` at the end of the output template and make sure the user trusts the websites that they are downloading from. Also, make sure to never download to a directory within PATH or other sensitive locations like one's user directory, `system32`, or other binaries locations. For users who are not able to upgrade, keep the default output template (`-o "%(title)s [%(id)s].%(ext)s`); make sure the extension of the media to download is a common video/audio/sub/... one; try to avoid the generic extractor; and/or use `--ignore-config --config-location ...` to not load config from common locations.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine:v3.21 | yt-dlp | 2024.07.01-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2024-38519 |
| Alpine:v3.22 | yt-dlp | 2024.07.01-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2024-38519 |
| Alpine:v3.23 | yt-dlp | 2024.07.01-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2024-38519 |
| Alpine:v3.24 | yt-dlp | 2024.07.01-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2024-38519 |
| Debian:12 | youtube-dl | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2024-38519 |
| Debian:12 | yt-dlp | no fix listed | DEBIAN-CVE-2024-38519 |
| Debian:13 | yt-dlp | 2024.07.01-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2024-38519 |
| Debian:14 | yt-dlp | 2024.07.01-1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2024-38519 |
| PyPI | yt-dlp | 2024.07.01 | PYSEC-2026-2065 |
| PyPI | yt-dlp | 2024.07.01 | GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j |
| Ubuntu:22.04:LTS | yt-dlp | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2024-38519 |
| Ubuntu:24.04:LTS | yt-dlp | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2024-38519 |
| Ubuntu:25.10 | yt-dlp | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2024-38519 |
| Ubuntu:26.04:LTS | yt-dlp | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2024-38519 |
| Ubuntu:26.10 | yt-dlp | no fix listed | UBUNTU-CVE-2024-38519 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| yt-dlp | yt-dlp | < 2024.07.01 – before 2024.07.01 |
| ytdl-org | youtube-dl | >= 2015.01.25 – through 2021.12.17nightly – before 2024-07-03 |
Weakness: CWE-669 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/5ce582448ececb8d9c30c8c31f58330090ced03a x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2024.07.01 x_refsource_MISC
- https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-090_yt-dlp x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/dirkf/youtube-dl/security/advisories/GHSA-22fp-mf44-f2mq x_refsource_MISC
- https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-089_youtube-dl/ x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/pull/32830 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/d42a222ed541b96649396ef00e19552aef0f09ec x_refsource_MISC