CVE-2026-26331

CWE-78Published: February 24, 2026· Updated: Feb 25, 2026

8.8

CVSS v3.1

EPSS:0.60%probability of exploitation in 30 daysPercentile:69.2th

Official Description

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.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2026-26331 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

Exploitation does not require any privileges, though user interaction (Required) is needed, which slightly reduces the risk of mass automated attacks.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 8.8.

Active exploitation of CVE-2026-26331 has been observed in the wild. Organizations should prioritize patching immediately regardless of CISA KEV status.