Executive brief
pyload-ng is a download manager that handles automated file transfers. A vulnerability allows authenticated users with basic settings permissions to disable security checks for encrypted (HTTPS) connections. This enables an attacker on the same network to intercept downloads, steal sensitive data, or perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting fake security certificates that the software will no longer reject.
Technical details
An incorrect authorization vulnerability exists in the `set_config_value()` API method of pyload-ng. The application uses an allowlist, `ADMIN_ONLY_CORE_OPTIONS`, to restrict sensitive configuration changes to administrators; however, the `ssl_verify` option in the `general` category was omitted from this list. An authenticated user with `Perms.SETTINGS` can set `general.ssl_verify` to 'off', which causes the underlying pycurl implementation to set `SSL_VERIFYPEER` and `SSL_VERIFYHOST` to 0. This disables certificate and hostname validation for all subsequent outbound requests, including downloads and update checks. This issue is an incomplete fix for a series of similar allowlist omissions and has been patched in version 0.5.0b3.dev100.
Affected products
- pyload pyload-ng <= 0.5.0b3.dev99
Timeline
- 2026-04-24: disclosed: Vulnerability reported to pyload/pyload
- 2026-05-04: advisory: GitHub Advisory published
- 2026-05-11: other: NVD published CVE-2026-42312