CVE-2023-40581 [High] | Command Injection in Yt-Dlp

yt-dlp is a youtube-dl fork with additional features and fixes. yt-dlp allows the user to provide shell command lines to be executed at various stages in its download steps through the `--exec` flag. This flag allows output template expansion in its argument, so that metadata values may be used in the shell commands. The metadata fields can be combined with the `%q` conversion, which is intended to quote/escape these values so they can be safely passed to the shell. However, the escaping used for `cmd` (the shell used by Python's `subprocess` on Windows) does not properly escape special characters, which can allow for remote code execution if `--exec` is used directly with maliciously crafted remote data. This vulnerability only impacts `yt-dlp` on Windows, and the vulnerability is present regardless of whether `yt-dlp` is run from `cmd` or from `PowerShell`. 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 2023.09.24 fixes this issue by properly escaping each special character. `\n` will be replaced by `\r` as no way of escaping it has been found. It is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2023.09.24 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: 1. Avoid using any output template expansion in --exec other than {} (filepath). 2. If expansion in --exec is needed, verify the fields you are using do not contain ", | or &. 3. Instead of using --exec, write the info json and load the fields from it instead.

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Exploit-DB ↗

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-05-07	13.29%	12.98%	-0.30%
2	2026-04-24	12.98%	13.29%	+0.30%
3	2026-04-21	—	12.98%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-05-07

13.29%

12.98%

-0.30%

2026-04-24

12.98%

13.29%

+0.30%

2026-04-21

—

12.98%

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Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
8.3	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:H) Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work. Privileges required (PR:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:C) Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.6	6.0	[email protected]
7.8	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.8	5.9	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

8.3

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H): Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C): Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.6

6.0

[email protected]

7.8

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.8

5.9

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-40581

vendor	priority	summary	link
`alpine`	high	CVE-2023-40581: 1 source package rows (yt-dlp); 6 state rows across 5 repos (3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community); fixed 6, open 0.	https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-40581
`debian`	unimportant	CVE-2023-40581 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (yt-dlp), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 4.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-40581
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2023-40581 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (yt-dlp), 8 status rows across 8 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, lunar, mantic, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 4, ignored 3, DNE 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-40581

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-40581

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
yt-dlp_project	yt-dlp	>= 2021.04.11, < 2023.09.24	cpe:2.3:a:yt-dlp_project:yt-dlp::::::::

References for CVE-2023-40581

URL	Tags
https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2023.09.24.003044	Product Release Notes
https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e	Patch
https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2021.04.11	Product Release Notes
https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2023.09.24	Product Release Notes
https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg	Exploit Mitigation Patch Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2023-40581 | yt-dlp command injection when using `%q` in `--exec` on Windows

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2023-40581

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-40581

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-40581

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-40581

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-40581

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-40581

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-40581

References for CVE-2023-40581