CVE-2026-55404
Fixed in a distro release EPSS <1%CVSS 7.5
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.
Products: yt-dlp
Fixed upstream
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| PyPI | yt-dlp | 2026.7.4 |
Distro releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Debian 12 | yt-dlp | no fix |
| Debian 13 | yt-dlp | no fix |
| Debian 14 | yt-dlp | 2026.07.04-1 |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | youtube-dl | no fix |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | youtube-dl | no fix |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | youtube-dl | no fix |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | youtube-dl | no fix |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | yt-dlp | no fix |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | yt-dlp | no fix |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | yt-dlp | no fix |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | yt-dlp | no fix |
| Ubuntu 26.10 | yt-dlp | no fix |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | yt-dlp | 2026.08.19-bp160.1.1 |
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | yt-dlp | 2026.07.04-1.1 |