yt-dlp: File Downloader cookie leak with curl

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

6.1 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

EPSS

• CVE-2026-50019: 0.32% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 24.98 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Summary If curl is used an external downloader for yt-dlp, cookies may be leaked to an unintended host upon HTTP redirect or when the host for download fragments differs from their parent manifest's. This is the equivalent to GHSA-v8mc-9377-rwjj for the curl downloader. The vulnerable behavior is present in yt-dlp released since 2023.09.24. Details At the file download stage, the cookies are passed by yt-dlp to the file downloader via --cookie. However, unless these are loaded from a file, this operation does not activate the cookie engine. As a result, curl will send cookies with requests to domains or paths for which the cookies are not scoped. An example of a potential attack scenario exploiting this vulnerability: 1. an attacker has crafted a malicious website with an embedded URL designed to be detected by yt-dlp as a video download. This embedded URL has the domain of a trusted site that the user has loaded cookies for, and conducts an unvalidated redirect to a target URL. 2.…

Published by the source

16 Jun 2026, 20:16 UTC

Last modified by the source

20 Jul 2026, 14:00 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 13:49 UTC

1. Revision 2 · amended · 26 Oct 2026

   Amended from ghsa record GHSA-f7j3-774f-rfhj

2. Revision 1 · created · 24 Oct 2026

   Published from osv record GHSA-f7j3-774f-rfhj

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2026-50019

Advisory: yt-dlp: File Downloader cookie leak with curl
IDs: CVE-2026-50019, GHSA-f7j3-774f-rfhj
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2026-50019 (revision 2, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 13:49 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Medium (CVSS 6.1)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: yt-dlp 2026.6.9. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- PyPI yt-dlp: affected >= 2023.9.24, < 2026.6.9; fixed in 2026.6.9

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- `python -m pip show yt-dlp`: prints the installed version. Run with the environment that serves production active.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on yt-dlp.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/GHSA-f7j3-774f-rfhj (OSV record GHSA-f7j3-774f-rfhj lists affected ranges: PyPI yt-dlp >=2023.9.24 <2026.6.9 (fixed))
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-f7j3-774f-rfhj (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-f7j3-774f-rfhj lists affected ranges: PyPI yt-dlp >=2023.9.24 <2026.6.9)

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