EUVD-2025-28706Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V5 - File Handling Path canonicalization, traversal prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Discovery, Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS 7.8 (High). KEV-listed — actively exploited. Public PoC available. EPSS 4.7%. Requires user to extract archive (social engineering). WinRAR has 500M+ users. Archive files are commonly shared and trusted. Patch available. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker creates a RAR archive with crafted filenames containing directory traversal sequences. The archive is distributed via email, file sharing, or download sites with a plausible cover story. When the victim extracts the archive in WinRAR, a malicious executable is silently placed in the Windows Startup folder (or another autorun location). On next login, the malware executes automatically, establishing persistent access to the system. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Mar 15, 2026
WinRAR contains a directory traversal vulnerability (CVE-2025-6218, CVSS 7.8) enabling remote code execution when users extract crafted archives. KEV-listed with EPSS 4.7% and public PoC, this vulnerability allows archive files to write outside the extraction directory, placing malicious files in startup folders or other sensitive locations. Given WinRAR's 500+ million user base, this is a high-impact social engineering vector.
Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
WinRAR contains a directory traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) that allows crafted archive files to extract files to arbitrary locations outside the intended directory, enabling remote code execution through strategic file placement.
RemediationAI
Update WinRAR immediately. If unable to update, exercise extreme caution with archive files from untrusted sources. Enterprise: deploy WinRAR updates via software management. Consider blocking RAR attachments at email gateways.
Affected VersionsENISA
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Technical ContextAI · show details
The vulnerability in WinRAR's archive extraction logic allows path traversal sequences in filenames within the archive. When a user extracts the archive, files can be written to arbitrary locations on the filesystem instead of the intended extraction directory. Attackers typically target the Windows Startup folder (for persistence) or overwrite system files. This is reminiscent of CVE-2018-20250 (the ACE format traversal in WinRAR) which was also KEV-listed and widely exploited.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
4DescriptionCVE.org
RARLAB WinRAR Directory Traversal Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of RARLAB WinRAR. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file.
The specific flaw exists within the handling of file paths within archive files. A crafted file path can cause the process to traverse to unintended directories. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current user. Was ZDI-CAN-27198.
Executive ViewAI
WinRAR, a widely-used file compression tool, contains a critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-6218) that allows attackers to execute malicious code on user systems through specially crafted archive files. This poses an immediate risk to any organization where employees use WinRAR, as attackers are actively exploiting this vulnerability in the wild, and no patch is currently available from the vendor.
Disable WinRAR auto-extraction and archive preview features; implement network segmentation to isolate systems with WinRAR; deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions with behavioral monitoring for suspicious WinRAR child processes; block WinRAR execution in email and web download zones via GPO or DLP; restrict user privileges to limit code execution impact; monitor for suspicious .rar file activity and unusual network connections from systems running WinRAR; consider replacement with alternative archive utilities (7-Zip, native Windows Compressed Folders) that do not have this vulnerability.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
CISA KEV
EPSS
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Path traversal exploits occur when applications use user-controlled input to construct file system paths without proper validation.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
WinRAR before 5.61 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the ACE archive format handler (UNACEV2.dll) that allows e
RARLAB WinRAR before 6.23 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code when a user attempts to view a benign file within a
WinRAR for Windows contains a path traversal vulnerability allowing crafted archives to execute arbitrary code, discover
RARLAB WinRAR before 7.00, on Windows, allows attackers to spoof the screen output via ANSI escape sequences, a differen
RARLAB WinRAR before 7.00, on Linux and UNIX platforms, allows attackers to spoof the screen output, or cause a denial o
WinRAR 5.61 contains a denial of service vulnerability that allows local attackers to crash the application by placing a
Out-of-bounds heap write in the RAR5 recovery-volume (.rev) parser of WinRAR, RAR, UnRAR, and unrar.dll (versions before
The file-execution functionality in WinRAR before 5.30 beta 5 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse f
Issue that bypasses the "Mark of the Web" security warning function for files when opening a symbolic link that points t
RARLAB WinRAR Mark-Of-The-Web Bypass Vulnerability. Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.3), this vulnerability is remotely exp
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the generate report functionality in Rarlab WinRAR 7.11, allows attackers to
Same weakness CWE-22 – Path Traversal
View allVendor StatusVendor
Debian
| Release | Status | Fixed Version | Urgency |
|---|---|---|---|
| bullseye/non-free | fixed | 2:6.23-1~deb11u1 | - |
| bookworm/non-free | fixed | 2:7.01-1~deb12u1 | - |
| trixie/non-free | fixed | 2:7.11-1 | - |
| forky/non-free, sid/non-free | fixed | 2:7.20-1 | - |
| (unstable) | not-affected | - | - |
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB