CVE-2026-50019

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. yt-dlp extracts this URL and calculates the cookies which are then passed to curl.
3. the download URL redirects to a server controlled by the attacker, to which curl forwards the user's sensitive cookie information.

Workarounds

It is recommended to upgrade yt-dlp to version 2026.06.09 as soon as possible.

For users who are not able to upgrade:

• Do not use --downloader curl.

CVE-2026-50019 has a CVSS score of 6.1 (Medium). The vector is network-reachable, no privileges required, and user interaction required. A CVSS score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether this affects your application depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable in your environment. A fixed version is available (2026.6.9); upgrading removes the vulnerable code path.

Kodem intelligence

yt-dlp version 2026.06.09 fixes this issue by doing the following:

• Pass the cookies through stdin via --cookie - if curl is version 7.59 or higher.
• Pass the cookies via --cookie /dev/fd/0 if the system supports this device file.
• In all other cases create a temporary file, save the cookies and then pass via --cookie <file>.

1. What is CVE-2026-50019? CVE-2026-50019 is a medium-severity security vulnerability in yt-dlp (pip), affecting versions >= 2023.9.24, < 2026.6.9. It is fixed in 2026.6.9.
2. How severe is CVE-2026-50019? CVE-2026-50019 has a CVSS score of 6.1 (Medium). This score reflects the worst-case severity of the vulnerability, not your specific exposure. Whether it represents real risk in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable.
3. Which versions of yt-dlp are affected by CVE-2026-50019? yt-dlp (pip) versions >= 2023.9.24, < 2026.6.9 is affected.
4. Is there a fix for CVE-2026-50019? Yes. CVE-2026-50019 is fixed in 2026.6.9. Upgrade to this version or later.
5. Is CVE-2026-50019 exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether CVE-2026-50019 is exploitable in your environment depends on whether the vulnerable code is present and reachable. A CVSS score is a worst-case rating; it does not account for your specific deployment, configuration, or usage patterns. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to show which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so you can focus on the ones that represent real risk. Get a demo
6. What actually determines whether CVE-2026-50019 is exploitable, and how bad it is? Exploitability and impact are not fixed properties of a CVE. They depend on runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A high CVSS score on a dependency that never runs is not the same as real risk. Kodem, an Intelligent Application Security platform, uses runtime intelligence to reveal which vulnerabilities actually execute in production, so teams prioritize the ones that genuinely matter.
7. How do I fix CVE-2026-50019? Upgrade yt-dlp to 2026.6.9 or later.