Skip to content
Fencer Vulns
high 7.5

CVE-2026-55404 json

yt-dlp: Downstream command injection via improper sanitization of yt-dlp --write-link output

published 2026-07-08 4 mo ago modified 2026-08-04 3 mo ago also GHSA-6v4j-43gg-vj32 , PYSEC-2026-3622 , EUVD-2026-42368

cvss
7.5
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.6%
EPSS 0.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 50%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

yt-dlp and youtube-dl are command-line audio/video downloaders. Prior to 2026.7.4, the --write-link, --write-url-link, and --write-desktop-link options can write .url or .desktop shortcut files using attacker-controlled webpage_url or filename metadata without sufficient validation or escaping, allowing malicious file:// URI injection on Windows or newline-based desktop entry key injection on Linux that can execute commands if the generated shortcut is opened. This issue is fixed in version 2026.7.4.

Patch / fix

  • pypi yt-dlp 2026.7.4
  • yt-dlp_project yt-dlp 2026.07.04
  • yt-dlp Debian 14 2026.07.04-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-55404

  • yt-dlp openSUSE Leap 16.0 2026.08.19-bp160.1.1
  • yt-dlp openSUSE Tumbleweed 2026.07.04-1.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:22142-1openSUSE-SU-2026:11196-1

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2026-55404 updated cvss 7.5

yt-dlp: youtube-dl: yt-dlp/youtube-dl: Arbitrary Code Execution via Malicious Shortcut File Generation

  • Red Hat All currently supported Red Hat products
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
4 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.64% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 50% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 3.1 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
GitHub 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
OSV 3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
pypi yt-dlp
<2026.7.4
2026.7.4

Affected products

  • yt-dlp yt-dlp

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-74 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.