GHSA-22fp-mf44-f2mq: Youtube dl Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-22fp-mf44-f2mq",
  "modified" : "2025-05-27T19:56:40Z",
  "published" : "2025-04-18T20:24:07Z",
  "aliases" : [ ],
  "summary" : "youtube-dl vulnerable to file system modification and RCE through improper file-extension sanitization",
  "details" : "#### Description\nThis advisory follows the security advisory [GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j published by the _yt-dlp/yt-dlp_ project](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j) to aid remediation of the issue in the _ytdl-org/youtube-dl_ project.\n\n### Vulnerability\n_youtube-dl_ does not limit the extensions of downloaded files, which could lead to arbitrary filenames being created in the download folder (and path traversal on Windows). \n\n### Impact\nSince _youtube-dl_ also reads config from the working directory (and, on Windows, executables will be executed from the _youtube-dl_ directory by default) the vulnerability could allow the unwanted execution of local code, including downloads masquerading as, eg, subtitles.\n\n### Patches\nThe versions of _youtube-dl_ listed as _Patched_ remediate this vulnerability by disallowing path separators and whitelisting allowed extensions. As a result, some very uncommon extensions might not get downloaded.\n\n**Master code d42a222 or later and nightly builds tagged 2024-07-03 or later** contain the remediation.\n\n### Workarounds\nAny/all of the below considerations may limit exposure in case it is necessary to use a vulnerable version\n* have `.%(ext)s` at the end of the output template\n* download from websites that you trust\n* do not download to a directory within the executable search `PATH` or other sensitive locations, such as your user directory or system directories\n* in Windows versions that support it, set [`NoDefaultCurrentDirectoryInExePath`](https://stackoverflow.com/a/50118548) to prevent the _cmd_ shell's executable search adding the default directory before `PATH`\n* consider that the path traversal vulnerability as a result of resolving `non_existent_dir\\..\\..\\target` does not exist in Linux or macOS\n* ensure the extension of the media to download is a common video/audio/... one (use `--get-filename`)\n* omit any of the subtitle options (`--write-subs`/` --write-srt`, `--write-auto-subs`/`--write-automatic-subs`, `--all-subs`).\n\n### References\n* [GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j)\n* https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/pull/32830",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "youtube-dl"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "2015.01.25"
      }, {
        "last_affected" : "2021.12.17"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/dirkf/youtube-dl/security/advisories/GHSA-22fp-mf44-f2mq"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-38519"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/pull/32830"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl/commit/d42a222ed541b96649396ef00e19552aef0f09ec"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/dirkf/youtube-dl"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2024-089_youtube-dl"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-434", "CWE-669" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2025-04-18T20:24:07Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}