Background exploitation KEV catalog Ransomware
CVE-2023-38831

RARLAB WinRAR Code Execution Vulnerability

RARLAB WinRAR before 6.23 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code when a user attempts to view a benign file within a ZIP archive. The issue occurs because a ZIP archive may include a benign file (such as an ordinary .JPG file) and also…

CheckOps priority index
8.5/10 Patch within 24 h
Severity7.8
Probability10.0
Exploitation4/5

Severity = CVSS. Probability = EPSS (FIRST). Exploitation = public signals: KEV, EUVD, ransomware, EPSS above 10 %, no account required.

EPSS · today 99.8% higher than 99.96% of CVEs
CVSS 3.1 7.8 AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:
Exploited for 1,167 days 24 Aug 2023
CISA due date 14 Sept 2023 for US federal agencies

Exploitation probability EPSS · FIRST

05010026 Sep05 Oct15 Oct24 Oct02 Nov
EPSS probability (%)Percentile among all CVEs

Exploitation signals 4 / 5

  • KEV catalog (CISA)24 Aug 2023
  • Exploited in EUVD (ENISA)24 Aug 2023
  • Used by ransomwareyes
  • EPSS above 10 %99.8%
  • No account, over the networkno

What to do

Fix

Apply the vendor’s fix as soon as it is available.

CISA guidance: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Meanwhile

Take the service off the internet or restrict access to it, watch the logs and look for signs of compromise.

Manufacturers (CRA)

Exploited vulnerability in your product: early warning to ENISA within 24 h, then notification within 72 h (Article 14 of the Cyber Resilience Act). The CRA explained

Description ENISA EUVD

RARLAB WinRAR before 6.23 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code when a user attempts to view a benign file within a ZIP archive. The issue occurs because a ZIP archive may include a benign file (such as an ordinary .JPG file) and also a folder that has the same name as the benign file, and the contents of the folder (which may include executable content) are processed during an attempt to access only the benign file. This was exploited in the wild in April through October 2023.

Affected products

WinRAR
Weaknesses (CWE)

Open source packages OSV

Affected libraries according to OSV, with fixed versions.

Timeline

  1. Published

  2. Exploitation reported (ENISA)

  3. Added to the KEV catalog

  4. CISA remediation due date

  5. EPSS peak: 99.8%

References

Other exploited vulnerabilities from the same vendor

  • CVE-2025-6218RARLAB WinRAR Path Traversal Vulnerability
    7.6 · Background exploitation
  • CVE-2025-8088RARLAB WinRAR Path Traversal Vulnerability
    8.6 · Background exploitation
  • CVE-2022-30333RARLAB UnRAR Directory Traversal Vulnerability
    9.9 · Background exploitation
  • CVE-2018-20250WinRAR Absolute Path Traversal Vulnerability
    8.4 · Background exploitation

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Sources: CISA KEV · ENISA EUVD · FIRST EPSS · OSV. Public data aggregated by CheckOps, updated automatically. Source texts remain the property of their authors. All exploited vulnerabilities