CVE-2026-26331

HIGHPre-NVD 8.88.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

This high-severity CVE scores 8.8 under a secondary CVSS source (NVD's own analysis pending). EPSS exploit probability: 1.6%, top 26% of all CVEs by exploit prediction. GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).

Triggered by: NVD CVSS baseline
Sources: epss, secondary
8.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixSerious severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet.
  • High severity, but no confirmed exploitation yet
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 2%CVSS: 8.8Exploit: None knownExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

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.

CVSS v3
8.8
EG Score
8.8(medium)
EG Risk
45(Track)
EG Risk 45/100SSVC: Track

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity88% × 45%
Exploitation2% × 40%
Automatability30% × 15%
Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence.
EPSS PROB
2%
EPSS %ILE
75%
KEV
Not listed

Published

February 24, 2026

Last Modified

June 17, 2026

Advisory Details (3)

Auto-updated Aug 2, 2026
Patch available. Sources: github_commit, github_release, github.
github Patch Available

Arbitrary command injection with the `--netrc-cmd` option in yt-dlp · Advisory · yt-dlp/yt-dlp · GitHub

https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/security/advisories/GHSA-g3gw-q23r-pgqm
github_release Patch Available

yt-dlp 2026.02.21

Patch available: yt-dlp/yt-dlp 2026.02.21

https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/tag/2026.02.21
github_commit

commit 1fbbe29b99dc (yt-dlp/yt-dlp)

Fix landed in yt-dlp/yt-dlp commit 1fbbe29b99dc — awaiting tagged release

https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/commit/1fbbe29b99dc61375bf6d786f824d9fcf6ea9c1a

Affected Packages

(3 across 3 ecosystems)
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
yt-dlp2025.04.30-1 ... 2026.08.19-1~bpo13+1 (41 versions)——
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
yt-dlp2025.04.30-1 ... 2026.02.21-1~bpo13+1 (28 versions)2026.02.21-1—
PyPI(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFixed inDependents
yt-dlp2023.10.13 ... 2026.2.9.233747.dev0 (500 versions)2026.02.21—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 7× in last 7d / 27× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-09-18 19:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-09-18 19:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-09-17 19:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-09-16 14:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-09-16 05:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-09-13 16:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-09-12 15:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-09-11 14:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-09-10 09:34 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-09-08 22:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-09-07 16:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-09-06 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-09-06 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-09-04 05:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-09-02 14:11 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-09-01 13:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-09-01 04:39 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-08-31 17:04 UTCOSV refresh
  19. 2026-08-30 19:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-08-30 01:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-08-28 21:41 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-08-27 14:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-08-26 14:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-08-25 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-08-23 00:19 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 34 more
  1. 2026-08-21 23:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-08-20 22:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-08-19 17:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-08-18 13:48 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-08-17 13:47 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-08-16 14:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-08-16 02:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-08-15 01:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-08-14 09:09 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-08-13 22:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-08-13 01:09 UTCEG score recompute
  12. 2026-08-12 13:50 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-08-12 00:58 UTCEG score recompute
  14. 2026-08-11 13:42 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-08-11 06:39 UTCEG score recompute
  16. 2026-08-11 00:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-08-09 20:47 UTCEG score recompute
  18. 2026-08-09 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-08-09 08:46 UTCEG score recompute
  20. 2026-08-08 16:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-08-07 20:54 UTCEG score recompute
  22. 2026-08-06 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-08-06 03:09 UTCEG score recompute
  24. 2026-08-05 19:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-08-04 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-08-04 06:00 UTCEG score recompute
  27. 2026-08-03 10:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-08-02 19:44 UTCEG score recompute
  29. 2026-08-02 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-08-01 04:16 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-07-30 16:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-07-30 01:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-07-28 15:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-07-27 13:34 UTCEG score recompute

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2026-26331?
CVE-2026-26331 is a high vulnerability published on February 24, 2026. 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 netrccmd Python API parameter) is used, an attacker could achieve arbitrary command injection on the user's system with a maliciously…
When was CVE-2026-26331 disclosed?
CVE-2026-26331 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on February 24, 2026, with the most recent update on June 17, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-26331 actively exploited?
CVE-2026-26331 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 25.4% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-26331?
CVE-2026-26331 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2026-26331?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-26331, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

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