CVE-2026-55404yt-dlp: Downstream command injection via improper sanitization of yt-dlp --write-link output
- 7.5HighCVSS base score
- 0.64%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 49% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- NonePublic exploitsnone known yet
Description
yt-dlp and youtube-dl are command-line audio/video downloaders. Prior to 2026.7.4, the --write-link, --write-url-link, and --write-desktop-link options can write .url or .desktop shortcut files using attacker-controlled webpage_url or filename metadata without sufficient validation or escaping, allowing malicious file:// URI injection on Windows or newline-based desktop entry key injection on Linux that can execute commands if the generated shortcut is opened. This issue is fixed in version 2026.7.4.
Timeline
ID reserved
By GitHub_M
- 22 days later
· 22 days later
Published
- 1 day later
· 1 day 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 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 0.64% · top 49% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.5.
Affected products
Affected packages
From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.
- PyPIyt-dlpGHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32 (opens in a new tab)
References
References3
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/b6590aaa1e3808155d69c9a79a797ae484163789 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.07.04 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISC
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-2026-42368 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32 (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-2026-55404)Record last updated .