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CVE-2018-20250VulnerabilityAdded to KEV 02/15/2022

CVE-2018-20250: WinRAR Absolute Path Traversal Vulnerability

Affects RARLAB WinRARSource CISA KEV

0

Exploited in the wild · used in ransomware campaigns · KEV due 15 Aug 2022 · public exploit available (Metasploit, Exploit-DB) · 96% EPSS : apply the vendor's fix or mitigations to RARLAB WinRAR now.

Data as of 10/24/2026, 22:15:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
Exploitation

Actively exploited – in CISA KEV since 02/15/2022

KEV deadline
08/15/2022 US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else.
Ransomware
Used in ransomware campaigns
EPSS
96.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 99% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Public exploits
1 Metasploit module, 3 Exploit-DB entriesPublic attack or detection tooling exists; see Public exploits below.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

What to do

CISA required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public exploits and detection

Description

WinRAR Absolute Path Traversal vulnerability leads to Remote Code Execution

Weaknesses

  • CWE-36Absolute Path Traversal (opens in a new tab)

    Base weaknessOWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)

    The product uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize absolute path sequences such as "/abs/path" that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory.

References

Community reviews

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