CVE-2023-38831: RARLAB WinRAR Code Execution Vulnerability

High severity, CVSS 7.8. Actively exploited: in CISA KEV since 2023-08-24. EPSS: 99.8% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

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.

Affected products

• RARLAB WinRAR: before 6.23 (fixed in 6.23)

Published 2023-08-23. Last modified 2026-08-05.