What is GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ?

GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ is a high-severity unrestricted upload of dangerous file types vulnerability in youtube-dl (pip), affecting versions >= 2015.01.25, <= 2021.12.17. No fixed version is listed yet. The application accepts file uploads without adequately restricting the file type or content.

How severe is GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ?

GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ has a CVSS score of 7.8 (High). 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.

Which versions of youtube-dl are affected by GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ?

youtube-dl (pip) versions >= 2015.01.25, <= 2021.12.17 is affected.

Is there a fix for GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ?

No fixed version is listed for GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.

Is GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ 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.

What actually determines whether GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ 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.

How do I fix GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ?

No fixed version is listed yet. In the interim: Validate file type by inspecting the content, not just the extension or MIME type declared by the client. Store uploads outside the web root.

GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ in youtube-dl | Intelligent Application Security

Q: How severe is GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ?

GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ has a CVSS score of 7.8 (High). 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.

Q: Which versions of youtube-dl are affected by GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ?

youtube-dl (pip) versions >= 2015.01.25, <= 2021.12.17 is affected.

Q: Is there a fix for GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ?

No fixed version is listed for GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.

Q: Is GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ exploitable, and should I be worried?

Whether GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ 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.

Q: What actually determines whether GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ 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.

Q: How do I fix GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ?

No fixed version is listed yet. In the interim: Validate file type by inspecting the content, not just the extension or MIME type declared by the client. Store uploads outside the web root.

Summary

Description

This advisory follows the security advisory GHSA-79w7-vh3h-8g4j published by the yt-dlp/yt-dlp project to aid remediation of the issue in the ytdl-org/youtube-dl project.

Vulnerability

youtube-dl does not limit the extensions of downloaded files, which could lead to arbitrary filenames being created in the download folder (and path traversal on Windows).

Workarounds

Any/all of the below considerations may limit exposure in case it is necessary to use a vulnerable version

have .%(ext)s at the end of the output template
download from websites that you trust
do not download to a directory within the executable search PATH or other sensitive locations, such as your user directory or system directories
in Windows versions that support it, set NoDefaultCurrentDirectoryInExePath to prevent the cmd shell's executable search adding the default directory before PATH
consider that the path traversal vulnerability as a result of resolving non_existent_dir\..\..\target does not exist in Linux or macOS
ensure the extension of the media to download is a common video/audio/... one (use --get-filename)
omit any of the subtitle options (--write-subs/ --write-srt, --write-auto-subs/--write-automatic-subs, --all-subs).

References

Impact

Since youtube-dl also reads config from the working directory (and, on Windows, executables will be executed from the youtube-dl directory by default) the vulnerability could allow the unwanted execution of local code, including downloads masquerading as, eg, subtitles.

The application accepts file uploads without adequately restricting the file type or content. Typical impact: remote code execution if the uploaded file can be served and executed on the server.

GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ has a CVSS score of 7.8 (High). The vector is requires local access, 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. No fixed version is listed yet, so configuration controls and monitoring matter more in the interim.

Affected versions

youtube-dl (>= 2015.01.25, <= 2021.12.17)

Security releases

Not available

Kodem intelligence

Severity tells you how bad this could be in the worst case. It does not tell you whether you are exposed. Exploitability and impact are functions of runtime truth: whether the vulnerable code is present, reachable, and actually executes in your application. A vulnerable package can sit in your dependency tree and never run.

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. Kodem's runtime-powered SCA identifies whether this CVE is reachable in your applications.

See it in your environment

Remediation advice

The versions of youtube-dl listed as Patched remediate this vulnerability by disallowing path separators and whitelisting allowed extensions. As a result, some very uncommon extensions might not get downloaded.

Master code d42a222 or later and nightly builds tagged 2024-07-03 or later contain the remediation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ? GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ is a high-severity unrestricted upload of dangerous file types vulnerability in youtube-dl (pip), affecting versions >= 2015.01.25, <= 2021.12.17. No fixed version is listed yet. The application accepts file uploads without adequately restricting the file type or content.
How severe is GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ? GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ has a CVSS score of 7.8 (High). 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.
Which versions of youtube-dl are affected by GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ? youtube-dl (pip) versions >= 2015.01.25, <= 2021.12.17 is affected.
Is there a fix for GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ? No fixed version is listed for GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ yet. Monitor the advisory for updates and apply mitigations in the interim.
Is GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ exploitable, and should I be worried? Whether GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ 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
What actually determines whether GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ 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.
How do I fix GHSA-22FP-MF44-F2MQ? No fixed version is listed yet. In the interim: Validate file type by inspecting the content, not just the extension or MIME type declared by the client. Store uploads outside the web root.