CVE-2018-20250 — WinRAR Absolute Path Traversal Vulnerability

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

01What is this vulnerability?

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.

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.	WinRAR	All versions prior and including 5.61

03Active exploitation status

Yes — actively exploited. Added to the CISA KEV catalog on 2022-02-15. Ransomware use: Known.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection in your stack of choice:

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07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2019-02-05T20:00:00.000Z
• Last modified: 2025-10-21T23:45:43.535Z
• Added to CISA KEV: 2022-02-15
• BOD 22-01 due: 2022-08-15

09References

• github.com — https://github.com/blau72/CVE-2018-20250-WinRAR-ACE
• research.checkpoint.com — https://research.checkpoint.com/extracting-code-execution-from-winrar/
• www.exploit-db.com — https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/46552/
• www.securityfocus.com — http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106948
• www.win-rar.com — https://www.win-rar.com/whatsnew.html
• packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/152618/RARLAB-WinRAR-ACE-Format-Input-Valid…
• www.rapid7.com — http://www.rapid7.com/db/modules/exploit/windows/fileformat/winrar_ace
• www.exploit-db.com — https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/46756/