CVE-2023-35934

HIGH
Published Jul 6, 20232y ago · Modified Jun 17, 20262w ago
8.2 CVSS 3.1
High
Find Similar
Published Jul 6, 2023 2y ago
Last Modified Jun 17, 2026 2w ago

Description

yt-dlp is a command-line program to download videos from video sites. During file downloads, yt-dlp or the external downloaders that yt-dlp employs may leak cookies on HTTP redirects to a different host, or leak them when the host for download fragments differs from their parent manifest's host. This vulnerable behavior is present in yt-dlp prior to 2023.07.06 and nightly 2023.07.06.185519. All native and external downloaders are affected, except for `curl` and `httpie` (version 3.1.0 or later). At the file download stage, all cookies are passed by yt-dlp to the file downloader as a `Cookie` header, thereby losing their scope. This also occurs in yt-dlp's info JSON output, which may be used by external tools. As a result, the downloader or external tool may indiscriminately send cookies with requests to domains or paths for which the cookies are not scoped. yt-dlp version 2023.07.06 and nightly 2023.07.06.185519 fix this issue by removing the `Cookie` header upon HTTP redirects; having native downloaders calculate the `Cookie` header from the cookiejar, utilizing external downloaders' built-in support for cookies instead of passing them as header arguments, disabling HTTP redirectiong if the external downloader does not have proper cookie support, processing cookies passed as HTTP headers to limit their scope, and having a separate field for cookies in the info dict storing more information about scoping Some workarounds are available for those who are unable to upgrade. Avoid using cookies and user authentication methods. While extractors may set custom cookies, these usually do not contain sensitive information. Alternatively, avoid using `--load-info-json`. Or, if authentication is a must: verify the integrity of download links from unknown sources in browser (including redirects) before passing them to yt-dlp; use `curl` as external downloader, since it is not impacted; and/or avoid fragmented formats such as HLS/m3u8, DASH/mpd and ISM.

CVSS Details

Base Score
8.2
Exploitability
2.8
Impact
4.7
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required None
User Interaction Required
Scope Changed
Confidentiality High
Integrity Low
Availability None

Threat Intelligence

No active exploitation signals — not in CISA KEV and no EPSS score yet.

Exploit & Patch Status
No Known Exploit
Patch Available

Weaknesses 2

CWE-200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor Information Exposure
CWE-601

Affected Products 6

VendorProductVersionRange
youtube-dlc_projectyoutube-dlc*any
yt-dlyoutube-dl*≥2015.01.25
yt-dlp_projectyt-dlp* <2023.07.06
yt-dlp_projectyt-dlp* <2023.07.06.185519
fedoraprojectfedora37any
fedoraprojectfedora38any

References 10

  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2023.07.06.185519
    Release Notes
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/1ceb657bdd254ad961489e5060f2ccc7d556b729
    Patch
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/3121512228487c9c690d3d39bfd2579addf96e07
    Patch
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/f8b4bcc0a791274223723488bfbfc23ea3276641
    Patch
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2023.07.06
    Release Notes
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-v8mc-9377-rwjj
    Vendor Advisory
  • lists.fedoraproject.org https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/5X6YT6AQE5FHM5VTQLKKJXSYBLLJF26W/
    Mailing List
  • lists.fedoraproject.org https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/HEOKCGVONGHR2SYUIXU33A4MKXZBDP6L/
  • lists.fedoraproject.org https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/IM44RJL2MR2WG3ZY354C5IUEEZUJGEVA/
    Mailing List
  • lists.fedoraproject.org https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/M7E7CQ5S5KMZHAMCNU7V7KYNBVCPLBHG/

Remediation

  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/1ceb657bdd254ad961489e5060f2ccc7d556b729
    Patch
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/3121512228487c9c690d3d39bfd2579addf96e07
    Patch
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/f8b4bcc0a791274223723488bfbfc23ea3276641
    Patch