{"schema_version":"1.7.3","id":"GHSA-hjq6-52gw-2g7p","published":"2024-04-10T17:07:09Z","modified":"2026-07-07T17:56:52.552705416Z","aliases":["CVE-2024-22423","PYSEC-2026-2066"],"related":["CVE-2024-22423"],"summary":"yt-dlp: `--exec` command injection when using `%q` in yt-dlp on Windows (Bypass of CVE-2023-40581)","details":"### Summary\nThe [patch that addressed CVE-2023-40581](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e) attempted to prevent RCE when using `--exec` with `%q` by replacing double quotes with two double quotes.\nHowever, this escaping is not sufficient, and still allows expansion of environment variables.\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```cmd\n> yt-dlp \"https://youtu.be/42xO6rVqf2E\" --ignore-config -f 18 --exec \"echo %(title)q\"\n[youtube] Extracting URL: https://youtu.be/42xO6rVqf2E\n[youtube] 42xO6rVqf2E: Downloading webpage\n[youtube] 42xO6rVqf2E: Downloading ios player API JSON\n[youtube] 42xO6rVqf2E: Downloading android player API JSON\n[youtube] 42xO6rVqf2E: Downloading m3u8 information\n[info] 42xO6rVqf2E: Downloading 1 format(s): 18\n[download] Destination: %CMDCMDLINE：~-1%&echo pwned&calc.exe [42xO6rVqf2E].mp4\n[download] 100% of  126.16KiB in 00:00:00 at 2.46MiB/s\n[Exec] Executing command: echo \"%CMDCMDLINE:~-1%&echo pwned&calc.exe\"\n\"\"\npwned\n```\n\n### Patches\nyt-dlp version 2024.04.09 fixes this issue by properly escaping `%`. It replaces them with `%%cd:~,%`, a variable that expands to nothing, leaving only the leading percent.\n\n### Workarounds\nIt is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2024.04.09 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### Details\nWhen escaping variables, the following code is used for Windows.\n[`yt_dlp/compat/__init__.py` line 31-33](https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/blob/8e6e3651727b0b85764857fc6329fe5e0a3f00de/yt_dlp/compat/__init__.py#L31-L33)\n```python\n    def compat_shlex_quote(s):\n        import re\n        return s if re.match(r'^[-_\\w./]+$', s) else s.replace('\"', '\"\"').join('\"\"')\n```\nIt replaces `\"` with `\"\"` to balance out the quotes and keep quoting intact if non-allowed characters are included. However, the `%CMDCMDLINE%` variable can be used to generate a quote using `%CMDCMDLINE:~-1%`; since the value of `%CMDCMDLINE%` is the commandline with which `cmd.exe` was called, and it is always called with the command surrounded by quotes, `%CMDCMDLINE:~-1%` expands to `\"`. After the quotes have been unbalanced, special characters are no longer quoted and commands can be executed:\n```cmd\n%CMDCMDLINE:~-1%&calc.exe\n```\n\n### References\n- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-hjq6-52gw-2g7p\n- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-22423\n- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2024.04.09\n- https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/ff07792676f404ffff6ee61b5638c9dc1a33a37a","affected":[{"package":{"name":"yt-dlp","ecosystem":"PyPI","purl":"pkg:pypi/yt-dlp"},"ranges":[{"type":"ECOSYSTEM","events":[{"introduced":"2021.04.11"},{"fixed":"2024.04.09"}]}],"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","2023.10.13","2023.10.7","2023.11.13.232715.dev0","2023.11.13.5826.dev0","2023.11.14","2023.11.15.232826.dev0","2023.11.16","2023.11.16.232727.dev0","2023.11.18.232705.dev0","2023.11.19.232719.dev0","2023.11.20.232729.dev0","2023.11.26.232703.dev0","2023.11.28.232715.dev0","2023.11.29.232714.dev0","2023.12.12.232727.dev0","2023.12.13.232710.dev0","2023.12.17.232710.dev0","2023.12.18.232711.dev0","2023.12.19.232701.dev0","2023.12.20.232717.dev0","2023.12.21.232720.dev0","2023.12.22.232735.dev0","2023.12.24.232657.dev0","2023.12.26.232752.dev0","2023.12.30","2023.12.30.232719.dev0","2023.12.31.232713.dev0","2023.12.5.232702.dev0","2023.12.6.232721.dev0","2023.2.17","2023.3.3","2023.3.4","2023.6.21","2023.6.22","2023.7.6","2023.9.24","2024.1.14.232710.dev0","2024.1.18.232658.dev0","2024.1.19.232708.dev0","2024.1.2.232714.dev0","2024.1.20.232722.dev0","2024.1.21.232719.dev0","2024.1.22.232713.dev0","2024.1.23.232723.dev0","2024.1.28.232706.dev0","2024.1.29.232706.dev0","2024.1.31.232703.dev0","2024.1.5.232702.dev0","2024.1.8.232709.dev0","2024.1.9.232723.dev0","2024.2.13.232701.dev0","2024.2.14.232704.dev0","2024.2.15.232705.dev0","2024.2.16.232705.dev0","2024.2.17.232706.dev0","2024.2.18.232707.dev0","2024.2.19.232703.dev0","2024.2.2.232707.dev0","2024.2.20.232712.dev0","2024.2.21.232721.dev0","2024.2.22.232849.dev0","2024.2.23.232656.dev0","2024.2.24.232815.dev0","2024.2.25.232703.dev0","2024.2.28.232744.dev0","2024.2.29.232658.dev0","2024.2.3.232712.dev0","2024.2.4.232659.dev0","2024.2.5.232712.dev0","2024.2.9.232659.dev0","2024.3.10","2024.3.10.232703.dev0","2024.3.14.232657.dev0","2024.3.17.232657.dev0","2024.3.18.232707.dev0","2024.3.19.232701.dev0","2024.3.2.232720.dev0","2024.3.20.232704.dev0","2024.3.22.232703.dev0","2024.3.29.232706.dev0","2024.3.3.232706.dev0","2024.3.30.232704.dev0","2024.3.31.232706.dev0","2024.3.4.232716.dev0","2024.3.6.232659.dev0","2024.3.7.232716.dev0","2024.3.8.232718.dev0","2024.3.9.232714.dev0","2024.4.1.232704.dev0","2024.4.3.233315.dev0","2024.4.4.232729.dev0","2024.4.6.232655.dev0","2024.4.7.232657.dev0","2024.4.8.232708.dev0"],"database_specific":{"source":"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2024/04/GHSA-hjq6-52gw-2g7p/GHSA-hjq6-52gw-2g7p.json"}}],"references":[{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-42h4-v29r-42qg"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-hjq6-52gw-2g7p"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-22423"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/de015e930747165dbb8fcd360f8775fd973b7d6e"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/ff07792676f404ffff6ee61b5638c9dc1a33a37a"},{"type":"PACKAGE","url":"https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp"},{"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/2024.04.09"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/123335"}],"database_specific":{"cwe_ids":["CWE-78"],"github_reviewed":true,"github_reviewed_at":"2024-04-10T17:07:09Z","nvd_published_at":"2024-04-09T18:15:08Z","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"}]}