Vulnerability-Lookup

GHSA-W5X7-VWR2-4X27

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2023-08-23 18:30 – Updated: 2025-10-22 00:32

Details

RARLabs 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 August 2023.

Severity

7.8 (High)


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

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{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2023-38831"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-345",
      "CWE-351"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2023-08-23T17:15:43Z",
    "severity": "HIGH"
  },
  "details": "RARLabs 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 August 2023.",
  "id": "GHSA-w5x7-vwr2-4x27",
  "modified": "2025-10-22T00:32:49Z",
  "published": "2023-08-23T18:30:34Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38831"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/government-backed-actors-exploiting-winrar-vulnerability"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37236100"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/winrar-zero-day-exploited-since-april-to-hack-trading-accounts"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-38831"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.group-ib.com/blog/cve-2023-38831-winrar-zero-day"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174573/WinRAR-Remote-Code-Execution.html"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ]
}

CVE-2023-38831 (GCVE-0-2023-38831)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2023-08-23 00:00 – Updated: 2026-08-05 03:55

Summary

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.

Severity

7.8 (High)


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

SSVC

Exploitation: active Automatable: no Technical Impact: total

CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)

Decision recorded 2023-08-23 00:00 UTC

CWE

n/a
CWE-351 - Insufficient Type Distinction

Assigner

mitre mitre root

References

6 references

URL	Tags
https://www.group-ib.com/blog/cve-2023-38831-winr…
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/wi…
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37236100
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174573/WinRA…
https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/governm…
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilit…	government-resource

Impacted products

1 product

Vendor	Product	Version
rarlab	winrar	Affected: 0 , < 6.23 (semver) cpe:2.3:a:rarlab:winrar:-:::::::*

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{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "affected": [
          {
            "cpes": [
              "cpe:2.3:a:rarlab:winrar:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*"
            ],
            "defaultStatus": "unknown",
            "product": "winrar",
            "vendor": "rarlab",
            "versions": [
              {
                "lessThan": "6.23",
                "status": "affected",
                "version": "0",
                "versionType": "semver"
              }
            ]
          }
        ],
        "metrics": [
          {
            "cvssV3_1": {
              "attackComplexity": "LOW",
              "attackVector": "LOCAL",
              "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
              "baseScore": 7.8,
              "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
              "confidentialityImpact": "HIGH",
              "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
              "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
              "scope": "UNCHANGED",
              "userInteraction": "REQUIRED",
              "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
              "version": "3.1"
            }
          },
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "id": "CVE-2023-38831",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "Exploitation": "active"
                  },
                  {
                    "Automatable": "no"
                  },
                  {
                    "Technical Impact": "total"
                  }
                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2023-08-23T00:00:00+00:00",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              },
              "type": "ssvc"
            }
          },
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "dateAdded": "2023-08-24",
                "reference": "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-38831"
              },
              "type": "kev"
            }
          }
        ],
        "problemTypes": [
          {
            "descriptions": [
              {
                "cweId": "CWE-351",
                "description": "CWE-351 Insufficient Type Distinction",
                "lang": "en",
                "type": "CWE"
              }
            ]
          }
        ],
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T03:55:55.112Z",
          "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
          "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
        },
        "references": [
          {
            "tags": [
              "government-resource"
            ],
            "url": "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-38831"
          }
        ],
        "timeline": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "time": "2023-08-24T00:00:00.000Z",
            "value": "CVE-2023-38831 added to CISA KEV"
          }
        ],
        "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
      },
      {
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2024-08-02T17:54:38.543Z",
          "orgId": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
          "shortName": "CVE"
        },
        "references": [
          {
            "tags": [
              "x_transferred"
            ],
            "url": "https://www.group-ib.com/blog/cve-2023-38831-winrar-zero-day/"
          },
          {
            "tags": [
              "x_transferred"
            ],
            "url": "https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/winrar-zero-day-exploited-since-april-to-hack-trading-accounts/"
          },
          {
            "tags": [
              "x_transferred"
            ],
            "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37236100"
          },
          {
            "tags": [
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            ],
            "url": "http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174573/WinRAR-Remote-Code-Execution.html"
          },
          {
            "tags": [
              "x_transferred"
            ],
            "url": "https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/government-backed-actors-exploiting-winrar-vulnerability/"
          }
        ],
        "title": "CVE Program Container"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "product": "n/a",
          "vendor": "n/a",
          "versions": [
            {
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "n/a"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "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."
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "description": "n/a",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "text"
            }
          ]
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      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2023-10-23T00:10:57.118Z",
        "orgId": "8254265b-2729-46b6-b9e3-3dfca2d5bfca",
        "shortName": "mitre"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://www.group-ib.com/blog/cve-2023-38831-winrar-zero-day/"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/winrar-zero-day-exploited-since-april-to-hack-trading-accounts/"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37236100"
        },
        {
          "url": "http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174573/WinRAR-Remote-Code-Execution.html"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/government-backed-actors-exploiting-winrar-vulnerability/"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "8254265b-2729-46b6-b9e3-3dfca2d5bfca",
    "assignerShortName": "mitre",
    "cveId": "CVE-2023-38831",
    "datePublished": "2023-08-23T00:00:00.000Z",
    "dateReserved": "2023-07-25T00:00:00.000Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T03:55:55.112Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

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Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
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Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
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GHSA-W5X7-VWR2-4X27

CVE-2023-38831 (GCVE-0-2023-38831)

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