{"schema_version":"1.7.3","id":"GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg","published":"2023-09-25T17:33:40Z","modified":"2026-07-07T17:56:20.918147212Z","aliases":["CVE-2023-40581","PYSEC-2026-2064"],"related":["CVE-2024-22423"],"summary":" yt-dlp on Windows vulnerable to `--exec` command injection when using `%q`","details":"### Impact\n[`yt-dlp`](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp) allows the user to provide shell commands to be executed at various stages in its download process through the `--exec` flag. This flag allows output template expansion in its argument, so that video 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.\n\nHowever, the escaping used for `cmd` (the shell used by Python's `subprocess` on Windows) did 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`.\n\nSupport for output template expansion in `--exec`, along with this vulnerable behavior, was added to `yt-dlp` in version [2021.04.11](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2021.04.11).\n\n```shell\n> yt-dlp https://youtu.be/Jo66yyCpHcQ --exec \"echo %(title)q\"\n[youtube] Extracting URL: https://youtu.be/Jo66yyCpHcQ\n[youtube] Jo66yyCpHcQ: Downloading webpage\n[youtube] Jo66yyCpHcQ: Downloading ios player API JSON\n[youtube] Jo66yyCpHcQ: Downloading android player API JSON\n[youtube] Jo66yyCpHcQ: Downloading m3u8 information\n[info] Jo66yyCpHcQ: Downloading 1 format(s): 135+251\n[download] Destination: ＂&echo(&echo(pwned&rem( [Jo66yyCpHcQ].f135.mp4\n[download] 100% of    4.85KiB in 00:00:00 at 60.20KiB/s\n[download] Destination: ＂&echo(&echo(pwned&rem( [Jo66yyCpHcQ].f251.webm\n[download] 100% of    4.80KiB in 00:00:00 at 31.58KiB/s\n[Merger] Merging formats into \"＂&echo(&echo(pwned&rem( [Jo66yyCpHcQ].mkv\"\nDeleting original file ＂&echo(&echo(pwned&rem( [Jo66yyCpHcQ].f135.mp4 (pass -k to keep)\nDeleting original file ＂&echo(&echo(pwned&rem( [Jo66yyCpHcQ].f251.webm (pass -k to keep)\n[Exec] Executing command: echo \"\\\"&echo(&echo(pwned&rem(\"\n\"\\\"\n\npwned\n```\n\n### Patches\nyt-dlp version 2023.09.24 fixes this issue by properly escaping each special character.\n`\\n` will be replaced by `\\r`, as no way of escaping it has been found.\n\n### Workarounds\nIt 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.\n\nFor Windows users who are not able to upgrade:\n- Avoid using any output template expansion in `--exec` other than `{}` (filepath).\n- If expansion in `--exec` is needed, verify the fields you are using do not contain `\"`, `|` or `&`.\n- Instead of using `--exec`, write the info json and load the fields from it instead.\n\n### References\n- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg\n- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40581\n- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2023.09.24\n- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2023.09.24.003044\n- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e","affected":[{"package":{"name":"yt-dlp","ecosystem":"PyPI","purl":"pkg:pypi/yt-dlp"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"2021.04.11"},{"fixed":"2023.09.24"}]}],"versions":["2021.10.10","2021.10.22","2021.10.9","2021.11.10","2021.11.10.1","2021.12.1","2021.12.25","2021.12.27","2021.4.11","2021.4.22","2021.5.11","2021.5.20","2021.6.1","2021.6.23","2021.6.8","2021.6.9","2021.7.21","2021.7.24","2021.7.7","2021.8.10","2021.8.2","2021.9.1","2021.9.2","2021.9.25","2022.1.21","2022.10.4","2022.11.11","2022.2.3","2022.2.4","2022.3.8","2022.3.8.1","2022.3.8.2","2022.4.8","2022.5.18","2022.6.22","2022.6.22.1","2022.6.29","2022.7.17","2022.7.18","2022.8.14","2022.8.19","2022.8.8","2022.9.1","2023.1.2","2023.1.6","2023.2.17","2023.3.3","2023.3.4","2023.6.21","2023.6.22","2023.7.6"],"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2023/09/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg.json"}}],"references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40581"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp-nightly-builds/releases/tag/2023.09.24.003044"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2021.04.11"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2023.09.24"}],"database_specific":{"cwe_ids":["CWE-78"],"github_reviewed":true,"github_reviewed_at":"2023-09-25T17:33:40Z","nvd_published_at":"2023-09-25T19:15:09Z","severity":"HIGH"},"severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H"}]}