CVE Intelligence
CISA KEV High File handling exploit reference

CVE-2025-6218 — RARLAB WinRAR Path Traversal Vulnerability

RARLAB WinRAR Directory Traversal Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of RARLAB WinRAR. User interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability in that the target must visit a malicious page or open a malicious file. The specific flaw exists within the handling of file paths within archive files. A crafted file path can cause the process to traverse to unintended directories. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute code in the context of the current user. Was ZDI-CAN-27198.

Published Jun 20, 2025 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities, NIST National Vulnerability Database, GitHub Security Advisories, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: zdi

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

How the score was calculated
  • Confirmed exploitation (CISA KEV)+35
  • Public exploit/PoC (github)+6
  • EPSS 90.5% (30-day exploitation probability)+15
  • Technical severity (high)+6

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Confirmed
CISA KEV, listed Dec 9, 2025
EPSS FIRST
90.48%
ahead of 100% of scored CVEs · Oct 15, 2026
Affects
Rarlab
Winrar
CVSS base
7.8
High · 3 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
Active
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

CISA required action CISA

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

US federal deadline: Dec 30, 2025 — passed 290 day(s) ago

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Rarlab Winrar).
  2. Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
  3. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  4. Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
  5. EPSS ahead of 100% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
  6. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (file handling), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Rarlab Winrar < 7.12 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Rarlab Winrar version 7.11 (64-bit) Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
7.8 CVSS 3.0 High 1.8 5.9 zdi-disclosures@trendmicro.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
7.8 CVSS 3.0 High — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
7.8 CVSS 3.0 High — — zdi via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: zdi-disclosures@trendmicro.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-22 · Path Traversal

Other CVEs with this weakness →

CISA KEV details CISA

CISA lists a CVE once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.

Listed
Dec 9, 2025
Federal deadline
Dec 30, 2025
passed 290 day(s) ago
Ransomware use
Unknown

CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a reference date.

Public exploits, PoCs and detection templates

Public code that demonstrates or tests the flaw raises the odds of mass exploitation — and Nuclei templates help find vulnerable assets in your environment.

Warning: public PoCs are sometimes disguised malware. Use them only for authorized testing in an isolated environment. This portal does not host exploit code — it only points to the sources.

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 15, 2026 · 3 reading(s) · max 90.48%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
  • Monitor file creation in web directories and paths with traversal sequences (../).
  • Hunt retroactively in logs from before Dec 9, 2025 (KEV listing): exploitation may have started earlier.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)file integrity (FIM)

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · rarlab/winrar
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • Affected products added · rarlab/winrar
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 7.8
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Added to CISA KEV (detected)
    Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
  • 2025
  • Added to CISA KEV catalog
    Dec 8, 2025 · CISA
  • CVE published
    Jun 20, 2025 · zdi

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

10 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Rarlab
every CVE for this vendor
2025-12
what else CISA listed that month
File handling
same class
CWE-22
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • High CVE-2026-14191 WinRAR / UnRAR RAR5 recovery-volume (.rev) out-of-bounds heap write in RecVolumes5::ReadHeader Jul 1, 2026
  • Medium CVE-2019-25677 WinRAR 5.61 Denial of Service via Malformed Language File Apr 5, 2026
  • Medium CVE-2025-52331 Cross-site Scripting (XSS) in Rarlab Winrar Nov 12, 2025
  • High CVE-2025-8088 RARLAB WinRAR Path Traversal Vulnerability KEV Aug 8, 2025
  • High CVE-2023-38831 RARLAB WinRAR Code Execution Vulnerability KEV Aug 23, 2023
  • High CVE-2018-20250 WinRAR Absolute Path Traversal Vulnerability KEV Feb 5, 2019

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2025-6218 is "RARLAB WinRAR Path Traversal Vulnerability", rated High. It affects Winrar (Rarlab); versions are in the scope table. It is in CISA KEV: there is evidence of real-world exploitation. CVSS 7.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 90.48% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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