CVE-2026-26331: yt-dlp: Arbitrary Command Injection when using the `--netrc-cmd` option
Affected: yt-dlp · Exploitation: possible (1 to 10%)
Not in CyberSIXT coverage yet: no article names this CVE. This page shows the public record.
Higher than 79% of scored CVEs
DescriptionCVE.org
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.
Affected products1
From the CVE record. A product or version that is not listed is unknown, not unaffected.
- yt-dlp · yt-dlp>= 2023.06.21, < 2026.02.21
On the Atlas
Every published CVE is on the CyberSIXT Atlas, grouped by weakness, vendor and month.
- Exploitation
- Possible (1 to 10%). EPSS between 1% and 10%.
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Public check
- No public nuclei template
- Vendor
- yt-dlp
- Published
- February 2026
CoverageNo articles yet
No CyberSIXT article names CVE-2026-26331 yet, so there is no coverage timeline, action brief or change log for it. Everything on this page comes from the public CVE record, CISA KEV, EPSS and the nuclei template index. Search the archive or see the CVEs in the news.