CVE-2024-22423

CRITICAL EPSS 65.8%
Published Apr 9, 20242y ago · Modified Jun 17, 20261w ago
9.8 CVSS 3.1
Critical
Find Similar
Published Apr 9, 2024 2y ago
Last Modified Jun 17, 2026 1w ago

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.

CVSS Details

Base Score
9.8
Exploitability
3.9
Impact
5.9
Vector string
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required None
User Interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality High
Integrity High
Availability High

Threat Intelligence

EPSS Exploit Probability
65.8% percentile
Exploit & Patch Status
Public Exploit Known
Patch Available

Weaknesses 1

CWE-78 OS Command Injection Injection

Affected Products 1

VendorProductVersionRange
yt-dlp_projectyt-dlp*≥2021.04.11  –  <2024.04.09

References 7

  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e
    Patch
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/ff07792676f404ffff6ee61b5638c9dc1a33a37a
    Patch
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2021.04.11
    ProductRelease Notes
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2024.04.09
    ProductRelease Notes
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg
    Not Applicable
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-hjq6-52gw-2g7p
    ExploitVendor Advisory
  • kb.cert.org https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/123335
    Third Party Advisory

Remediation

  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e
    Patch
  • github.com https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/ff07792676f404ffff6ee61b5638c9dc1a33a37a
    Patch