CVE-2026-50023 | yt-dlp: Dangerous file type creation via insufficient filename sanitization (Bypass of CVE-2024-38519)

Exp

yt-dlp is a command-line audio/video downloader. Prior to 2026.06.09, a vulnerability exists in yt-dlp that allows a remote attacker to write arbitrary OS-shortcut files (such as .desktop, .url, .webloc) to the user's filesystem, bypassing the remediation for CVE-2024-38519. The allowlist explicitly included the unsafe extensions .desktop, .url, and .webloc so that the functionality of the --write-link option (and its variants) could be preserved. These allowlist inclusions can be exploited by an attacker to write malicious OS-shortcut files in the context of a media or subtitles download. This vulnerability is fixed in 2026.06.09.

Published: 2026-06-23 Last update: 2026-06-26 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-50023 is rated High Exploit Risk (62.9/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.56%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2026-50023

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-50023

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-27 0.54% 0.56% +0.01%
2 2026-06-24 0.12% 0.54% +0.43%
3 2026-06-12 — 0.12% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-50023

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

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]
9.6 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/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: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: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.
 2.8 6.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-50023

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-50023

GHSA-c6mh-fpjc-4pr3 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: pip — yt-dlp: Dangerous file type creation via insufficient filename sanitization (Bypass of CVE-2024-38519)

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-50023

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-50023 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (yt-dlp), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, forky, sid, trixie): open 2, resolved 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-50023
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-50023 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (yt-dlp), 5 status rows across 5 suites (jammy, noble, questing, resolute, upstream): needs-triage 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-50023

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-50023

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
yt-dlp_project yt-dlp < 2026.06.09 cpe:2.3:a:yt-dlp_project:yt-dlp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-50023

cvelogic Threat Intelligence