CVE-2018-20250
RARLAB WinRAR: Absolute Path Traversal
As of , CVE-2018-20250 in RARLAB WinRAR is on CISA's list of exploited vulnerabilities: CISA listed it on . Our patch-first group: Patch this week.
- Exploited
- Yes: CISA listed it on 15 February 2022
- US federal deadline
- 15 August 2022181 days after CISA listed it. US federal civilian agencies must fix it by then.
- Used in ransomware campaigns
- Known
- EPSS score
- 0.96Higher than 99% of the CVEs EPSS scores. EPSS estimates the chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.
- EPSS when listed
- 0.85 on 15 February 2022EPSS on the day CISA listed it.
- Public exploit
- 1 Metasploit module and 2 Exploit-DB entries (2 verified)
- Fix
- No vendor link in CISA's entry
What CISA says to do
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
CISA's required action
What the flaw is
WinRAR Absolute Path Traversal vulnerability leads to Remote Code Execution
CISA's 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.
The CVE record's description, from checkpoint
- CVE published
- 5 February 2019
- Assigned by
- checkpoint
- CVSS
- 7.8 High (CVSS 3.1, from CISA-ADP)
- CWE-36
- Absolute Path Traversal
- CISA SSVC, exploitation
- active
- CISA SSVC, automatable
- no
- CISA SSVC, technical impact
- total
Timeline
- The CVE record was published.
- Exploit-DB published an exploit (EDB-ID 46552).
- Exploit-DB published an exploit (EDB-ID 46756).
- CISA added it to its list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- The US federal deadline to fix it.
Public exploits
Facts from Metasploit's module list and Exploit-DB's index; we never copy exploit code.
- Metasploit: RARLAB WinRAR ACE Format Input Validation Remote Code Executionexploit module, rank excellent
- Exploit-DB: RARLAB WinRAR 5.61 - ACE Format Input Validation Remote Code Execution (Metasploit)EDB-ID 46756, verified by Exploit-DB, 25 April 2019
- Exploit-DB: WinRAR 5.61 - Path TraversalEDB-ID 46552, verified by Exploit-DB, 22 February 2019
WinRAR: other exploited entries
| Vulnerability | Product | Our group | Listed | Deadline | EPSS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2023-38831Code Execution | RARLAB WinRAR | Patch this weekRansomware use; Metasploit module; EPSS 0.99 | 0.99 | ||
| CVE-2025-6218Path Traversal | RARLAB WinRAR | Patch this weekEPSS 0.90 | 0.90 | ||
| CVE-2025-8088Path Traversal | RARLAB WinRAR | Patch this weekRansomware use; EPSS 0.94 | 0.94 |
Read further
- CVE recordcve.org
- NVD entrynvd.nist.gov
- CISA's catalogcisa.gov
- EPSS for this CVEapi.first.org