🛡️ CVE-2026-50023 on Debian — yt-dlp

⚪ Unknown ✅ No Known Exploit OSV

N/A

CVSS Score

0 Low4 Medium7 High9 Critical10

Description

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.

Distribution advisory

This page covers CVE-2026-50023 as tracked by Debian, for the package yt-dlp. The fix is available in version 2026.06.09-1; earlier versions remain affected.

How this vulnerability can be exploited

This issue can be reached over the network, attack complexity is low, an attacker needs no privileges on the target. A user must be tricked into taking some action. The scope is changed, meaning a successful attack can affect components beyond the vulnerable one. Rated impact: confidentiality high, integrity high, availability high.

Weakness class

DEBIAN-CVE-2026-50023 is classified as CWE-641: Improper Restriction of Names for Files and Other Resources. The product constructs the name of a file or other resource using input from an upstream component, but it does not restrict or incorrectly restricts the resulting name.

Affected software

DEBIAN-CVE-2026-50023 is recorded against 1 package.

yt-dlp (fixed in 2026.06.09-1)

Timeline and source

Published on 23 June 2026 and last revised on 4 August 2026. No public exploit is currently recorded for this entry. Record sourced from OSV.

References

security-tracker.debian.org (Advisory)

Details

Severity Unknown

CVSS Score N/A

CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE N/A

Public Exploit ✅ No

Source OSV

Published 2026-06-23

Updated 2026-08-20

Modified 2026-08-04

Fix URL N/A

Affected Packages

Software	From version	Fixed in
yt-dlp	—	2026.06.09-1

References

ADVISORY https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-50023

🔗 NVD 🔗 Mitre

Similar Threats

Site Security Check

Is yt-dlp part of your stack?

DEBIAN-CVE-2026-50023 is rated CVSS 8.0 High. BotEraser scans your installation against known CVE records and tells you whether this vulnerability applies to the versions you actually run.

Scan My Site Free →

No credit card required · Results in minutes

ⓘ Data Notice: The information presented above has been compiled from publicly available internet sources. Boteraser aggregates this data solely for informational purposes and does not independently classify, evaluate, or endorse any findings about the vulnerabilities listed. The accuracy and completeness of this information is the sole responsibility of the original publishers. Boteraser and its operators accept no liability for any decisions made based on this data.