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CVE-2023-38831

7.8, high Known exploited Used in ransomware

RARLAB WinRAR Code Execution Vulnerability

NVD (opens in a new tab) CVE.org (opens in a new tab) CISA KEV catalogue (opens in a new tab)
CVSS
7.8, high high CVSS v3.1
EPSS, next 30 days
100% higher than 99.9% of scored CVEs
Exploitation
Confirmed in the wild
Published
23 Aug 20233 years ago

Known exploited

CISA added this to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog on 24 Aug 2023 and links it to ransomware activity. US federal agencies had to remediate by 14 Sept 2023, a deadline that has passed.

Required action. Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Description

RARLAB WinRAR before 6.23 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code when a user attempts to view a benign file within a ZIP archive. The issue occurs because a ZIP archive may include a benign file (such as an ordinary .JPG file) and also a folder that has the same name as the benign file, and the contents of the folder (which may include executable content) are processed during an attempt to access only the benign file. This was exploited in the wild in April through October 2023.

Details

Vendor
RARLAB
Product
winrar
Weakness
CWE-345 (opens in a new tab)
Status
Analyzed
Updated
5 Aug 2026
Assigner
cve@mitre.org

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References 6

Exploit code 4

Other references 2

The kind is read from NVD's tags where present and from the shape of the URL otherwise, so treat it as a hint.

Other RARLAB CVEs

Every RARLAB CVE we hold

Same vendor in what we hold, not a known link between the flaws.

  • CVE-2025-8088 RARLAB WinRAR Path Traversal Vulnerability KEV EPSS 95% 8.8, high
  • CVE-2025-6218 RARLAB WinRAR Path Traversal Vulnerability KEV EPSS 90% 7.8, high
  • CVE-2022-30333 RARLAB UnRAR Directory Traversal Vulnerability KEV EPSS 99% 7.5, high
  • CVE-2018-20250 WinRAR Absolute Path Traversal Vulnerability KEV EPSS 96% 7.8, high

Beyond this page

Is CVE-2023-38831 in your network?

This page tells you how dangerous CVE-2023-38831 is out there. Whether it sits on one of your devices, only a scan of your own network can tell. That is what our systems do, every day, for the companies we protect.

CVE-2023-38831 is in the CISA catalogue of exploited vulnerabilities: attackers are already exploiting it.

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    Detect it if it's exploited

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Check your exposure

Assembled from the NVD 2.0 API, the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog and FIRST EPSS. Scores are as of our last collection on 17 Oct 2026, not the live upstream state.