CVE-2024-22423yt-dlp `--exec` command injection when using `%q` in yt-dlp on Windows
- 8.4HighCVSS base score
- 1.4%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 27% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
yt-dlp is a youtube-dl fork with additional features and fixes. The patch that addressed CVE-2023-40581 attempted to prevent RCE when using `--exec` with `%q` by replacing double quotes with two double quotes. However, this escaping is not sufficient, and still allows expansion of environment variables. Support for output template expansion in `--exec`, along with this vulnerable behavior, was added to `yt-dlp` in version 2021.04.11. yt-dlp version 2024.04.09 fixes this issue by properly escaping `%`. It replaces them with `%%cd:~,%`, a variable that expands to nothing, leaving only the leading percent. It is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2024.04.09 as soon as possible. Also, always be careful when using `--exec`, because while this specific vulnerability has been patched, using unvalidated input in shell commands is inherently dangerous. For Windows users who are not able to upgrade, avoid using any output template expansion in `--exec` other than `{}` (filepath); if expansion in `--exec` is needed, verify the fields you are using do not contain `"`, `|` or `&`; and/or instead of using `--exec`, write the info json and load the fields from it instead.
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
- 3 months later
· 3 months later
Published
- 10 months later
· 10 months later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub_MCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High8.4 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 1.4% · top 27% of all CVEs (13 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.4.
Affected products
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- PyPIyt-dlpGHSA-hjq6-52gw-2g7p (opens in a new tab)
References
References7
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-hjq6-52gw-2g7p (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/ff07792676f404ffff6ee61b5638c9dc1a33a37a (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2021.04.11 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2024.04.09 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/123335 (opens in a new tab)x_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2024-1216 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-hjq6-52gw-2g7p (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2024-22423)Record last updated .