{"id":"UBUNTU-CVE-2026-26331","details":"yt-dlp is a command-line audio/video downloader. Starting in version 2023.06.21 and prior to version 2026.02.21, when yt-dlp's `--netrc-cmd` command-line option (or `netrc_cmd` Python API parameter) is used, an attacker could achieve arbitrary command injection on the user's system with a maliciously crafted URL. yt-dlp maintainers assume the impact of this vulnerability to be high for anyone who uses `--netrc-cmd` in their command/configuration or `netrc_cmd` in their Python scripts. Even though the maliciously crafted URL itself will look very suspicious to many users, it would be trivial for a maliciously crafted webpage with an inconspicuous URL to covertly exploit this vulnerability via HTTP redirect. Users without `--netrc-cmd` in their arguments or `netrc_cmd` in their scripts are unaffected. No evidence has been found of this exploit being used in the wild. yt-dlp version 2026.02.21 fixes this issue by validating all netrc \"machine\" values and raising an error upon unexpected input. As a workaround, users who are unable to upgrade should avoid using the `--netrc-cmd` command-line option (or `netrc_cmd` Python API parameter), or they should at least not pass a placeholder (`{}`) in their `--netrc-cmd` argument.","modified":"2026-05-20T16:24:49.040250173Z","published":"2026-02-24T03:16:00Z","upstream":["CVE-2026-26331"],"references":[{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-26331"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-26331"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/1fbbe29b99dc61375bf6d786f824d9fcf6ea9c1a"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.02.21"},{"type":"REPORT","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-g3gw-q23r-pgqm"}],"affected":[{"package":{"name":"yt-dlp","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:22.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/yt-dlp?arch=source&distro=jammy"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["2021.12.01-1","2021.12.27-1","2022.01.21-1","2022.02.04-1","2022.03.08.1-1","2022.04.08-1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"yt-dlp","binary_version":"2022.04.08-1"}]},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2026/UBUNTU-CVE-2026-26331.json"}},{"package":{"name":"yt-dlp","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:24.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/yt-dlp?arch=source&distro=noble"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["2023.07.06-1","2023.10.13-1ubuntu1","2023.11.16-1","2023.12.30-1ubuntu1","2024.03.10-1","2024.04.09-1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"yt-dlp","binary_version":"2024.04.09-1"}]},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2026/UBUNTU-CVE-2026-26331.json"}},{"package":{"name":"yt-dlp","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:25.10","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/yt-dlp?arch=source&distro=questing"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["2025.03.27-1","2025.04.30-1","2025.05.22-1","2025.06.09-1","2025.06.25-1","2025.06.30-1","2025.07.21-1","2025.08.11-1","2025.08.20-1","2025.08.22-1","2025.08.27-1","2025.09.05-1","2025.09.23-1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_version":"2025.09.23-1","binary_name":"yt-dlp"}]},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2026/UBUNTU-CVE-2026-26331.json"}},{"package":{"name":"yt-dlp","ecosystem":"Ubuntu:26.04:LTS","purl":"pkg:deb/ubuntu/yt-dlp?arch=source&distro=resolute"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"0"}]}],"versions":["2025.09.23-1","2025.10.22-1","2025.11.12-1","2025.12.08-1","2026.01.31-1","2026.03.17-1"],"ecosystem_specific":{"binaries":[{"binary_name":"yt-dlp","binary_version":"2026.03.17-1"}]},"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices/blob/main/osv/cve/2026/UBUNTU-CVE-2026-26331.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.7.5","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},{"type":"Ubuntu","score":"medium"}]}