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.

The remote Fedora 44 host has a package installed that is affected by multiple vulnerabilities as referenced in the FEDORA-2026-937e768833 advisory.

    - Update to 2026.02.21. Fixes rhbz#2441709.
    - Mitigates CVE-2026-26331 / GHSA-g3gw-q23r-pgqm (rhbz#2442244)

    ----

    ```
    * Sat Feb 21 2026 Dominik 'Rathann' Mierzejewski <dominik@greysector.net> - 2026.02.04-2
    - fix FTBFS with python 3.14.3     ```


Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for these issues but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Fedora 42 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the FEDORA-2026-7d3c7180c7 advisory.

    - Update to 2026.02.21. Fixes rhbz#2441709.
    - Mitigates CVE-2026-26331 / GHSA-g3gw-q23r-pgqm (rhbz#2442244)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote Fedora 43 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the FEDORA-2026-d86b88630b advisory.

    - Update to 2026.02.21. Fixes rhbz#2441709.
    - Mitigates CVE-2026-26331 / GHSA-g3gw-q23r-pgqm (rhbz#2442244)

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

  - 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. (CVE-2026-26331)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

The remote Fedora 45 host has a package installed that is affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the FEDORA-2026-3d6da3d46f advisory.

    Automatic update for yt-dlp-2026.02.21-1.fc45.

    ##### **Changelog**

    ```
    * Tue Feb 24 2026 Maxwell G <maxwell@gtmx.me> - 2026.02.21-1
    - Update to 2026.02.21. Fixes rhbz#2441709.
    - Mitigates CVE-2026-26331 / GHSA-g3gw-q23r-pgqm (rhbz#2442244)

    ```

Tenable has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora security advisory.

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
301187	Fedora 44 : yt-dlp (2026-937e768833)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	high
301073	Fedora 42 : yt-dlp (2026-7d3c7180c7)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	high
300069	Fedora 43 : yt-dlp (2026-d86b88630b)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	high
299954	Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-26331	Nessus	Misc.	high
299894	Fedora 45 : yt-dlp (2026-3d6da3d46f)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2026-26331

high

Tenable Plugins

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high

high

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high