yutu: External Control of File Name or Path
CVE-2026-50158 is a high-severity external control of file name or path vulnerability in yutu from Eat-pray-ai, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.7 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected yutu versions: < 0.10.9-dev1. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.23% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of yutu you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
- Read the advisory on github.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eat-pray-ai | yutu | < 0.10.9-dev1 | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Privileges required
- NoneNo account or login is needed.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- Confidentiality
- NoneNo data is disclosed.
- Integrity
- HighData or code can be modified at will.
- Availability
- HighThe component can be taken down completely.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (github.com).
Official description
yutu is an AI-powered toolkit for managing and growing YouTube channels. Prior to 0.10.9, the caption-download MCP tool accepts a caller-controlled file parameter through cmd/caption/download.go and passes it to Caption.Download() in pkg/caption/caption.go, where os.Create() creates or truncates that path without using the pkg.Root confinement boundary backed by YUTU_ROOT. A principal able to invoke caption-download, including a local HTTP client when the MCP server runs with its default authentication-disabled configuration, can write downloaded caption bytes to any path writable by the yutu process outside YUTU_ROOT. This can overwrite application files, configuration, shell startup files, logs, or data and can cause persistent code execution or denial of service depending on the selected writable target. Live caption retrieval also requires usable service credentials and an accessible caption identifier. This issue is fixed in version 0.10.9.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: External Control of File Name or Path
The product allows user input to control or influence paths or file names that are used in filesystem operations.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- When the set of filenames is limited or known, create a mapping from a set of fixed input values (such as numeric IDs) to the actual filenames, and reject all other inputs. For example, ID 1 could map to inbox.txt and ID 2 could map to profile.txt. Features such as the ESAPI AccessReferenceMap provide this capability.
- Run your code in a jail or similar sandbox environment that enforces strict boundaries between the process and the operating system. This may effectively restrict all access to files within a particular directory. Examples include the Unix chroot jail and AppArmor. In general, managed code may provide some protection. This may not be a feasible solution, and it only limits the impact to the operating system; the rest of your application may still be subject to compromise. Be careful to avoid CWE-243 and other weaknesses related to jails.
- For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
More External Control of File Name or Path vulnerabilities (CWE-73)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: partial).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Patches and release notes
Recent External Control of File Name or Path vulnerabilities
- 8.6 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 7.2 High severity
- 9.6 Critical severity
- 9.6 Critical severity
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