CVE-2018-20250
WinRAR Absolute Path Traversal Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 15 August 2022). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
In WinRAR versions prior to and including 5.61, There is path traversal vulnerability when crafting the filename field of the ACE format (in UNACEV2.dll). When the filename field is manipulated with specific patterns, the destination (extraction) folder is ignored, thus treating the filename as an absolute path.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 96.00% probability · 100th percentile
- Public exploits
- 2 in Exploit-DB · verified · first 22 February 2019
- CISA KEV
- Listed 15 February 2022 · due 15 August 2022 · used in ransomware campaigns
- Weakness
- CWE-36, CWE-22
- Affected
- rarlab/winrar
- Source
- cve@checkpoint.com
EPSS 96.0% since 27 October 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
CISA notes
Apply updates per vendor instructions. https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20250
Public exploits (2)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/152618/RARLAB-WinRAR-ACE-Format-Input-Validation-Remote-Code-Execution.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/windows/fileformat/winrar_aceThird Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106948Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://github.com/blau72/CVE-2018-20250-WinRAR-ACEExploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://research.checkpoint.com/extracting-code-execution-from-winrar/Exploit, Press/Media Coverage, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/46552/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/46756/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.win-rar.com/whatsnew.htmlRelease Notes
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/152618/RARLAB-WinRAR-ACE-Format-Input-Validation-Remote-Code-Execution.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/windows/fileformat/winrar_aceThird Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106948Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://github.com/blau72/CVE-2018-20250-WinRAR-ACEExploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://research.checkpoint.com/extracting-code-execution-from-winrar/Exploit, Press/Media Coverage, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/46552/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/46756/Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.win-rar.com/whatsnew.htmlRelease Notes
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-20250US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.