Exploited RansomwareCVE from 2018, added in 2022

CVE-2018-20250

RARLAB WinRAR · Office, PDF and utilities

WinRAR Absolute Path Traversal Vulnerability

At a glance

Exploited. Added to CISA’s catalog of exploited vulnerabilities on February 15, 2022.

Used in ransomware attacks, according to CISA.

Affected product: RARLAB WinRAR (category Office, PDF and utilities, indicative classification). Name in CISA’s catalog: RARLAB WinRAR.

What should I do?

Apply the security update from RARLAB.

Deadline set by CISA for US federal agencies: 181 days (due August 15, 2022). It only binds those agencies, but it is a useful measure of urgency.

The vendor’s specific advisory is listed in the NVD references: CVE-2018-20250 on the NVD website.

Original text of the required action (CISA)

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Timeline

February 5, 2019 Vulnerability published Publication date (NVD)
February 15, 2022 Exploitation confirmed Added to CISA’s KEV catalog
August 15, 2022 CISA deadline Remediation deadline set for US federal agencies

The facts, with their sources

Exploitation confirmed: Yes, on February 15, 2022 Date added to the catalog of exploited vulnerabilities. Exploitation itself may have started earlier. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Ransomware: Known use Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Hunt for compromise: Not requested by CISA Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA required action: Apply the security update from RARLAB. Rewritten by this site from CISA’s original text. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA deadline: August 15, 2022, 181 days Set for US federal agencies: a measure of urgency, not an obligation elsewhere. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Vulnerability published: February 5, 2019 Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
Product according to CISA: RARLAB WinRAR Filed by this site under “Office, PDF and utilities” (indicative classification). Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Technical detail of the score: attack vector, complexity, impact. Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC

Severity and activity

7.8 / 10 CVSS severity: high

Score from the NVD. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

— Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS)

FIRST’s EPSS model. Since exploitation is already confirmed, this figure is mostly useful to compare activity. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

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.

WinRAR Absolute Path Traversal vulnerability leads to Remote Code Execution

Summary from CISA (KEV catalog).

CERT-FR advisories

No advisory among the latest CERT-FR publications this site follows. That does not mean there are none.

Information reused under the Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab); the date of last update is shown for each advisory. This site is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by ANSSI.

Sources for this page

CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, required action, deadline, ransomware.
NVD (NIST): CVSS severity, publication date, description, vendor references.
EPSS (FIRST): probability of exploitation.
CERT-FR: advisories and alerts (in French).
Brand and category: indicative classification by this site (method).