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ExploitedIn CISA KEVFix available

CVE-2023-38831

Exploitation confirmed. First attested on 2023-08-24 by CISA-ADP, CISA KEV, GCVE · kevintel.

  • Published2023-08-23
  • Fixed in6.23
  • WeaknessCWE-345 · CWE-351

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

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.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2023-08-2317:15CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2023-08-24Added to the CISA KEV catalogCISA KEV
  3. 2023-08-24Listed as exploited by GCVEGCVE
  4. 2023-08-24Exploitation first reportedCISA KEV
  5. 2024-04-2918:48SSVC exploitation set to activeCISA-ADP

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-11-03 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2023-38831?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2023-38831?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD · CISA-ADP
Rarlab winrar
BranchAffectedFixed in
6.23< 6.236.23

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

  1. Update Rarlab winrar to 6.23
  2. CISA’s required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.due 2023-09-14

Detection

read 2026-11-03 22:42 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
20 repositories, unverifiedBoredHackerBlog/winrar_CVE-2023-38831_lazy_pocb1tg/CVE-2023-38831-winrar-exploitIR-HuntGuardians/CVE-2023-38831-HUNTGarck3h/cve-2023-38831ignis-sec/CVE-2023-38831-RaRCE
PoC-in-GitHub
Metasploit modules
1 moduleexploit/windows/fileformat/winrar_cve_2023_38831rank: excellentModule metadata: Metasploit Framework, © Rapid7, Inc., BSD-3-Clause.
Metasploit Framework

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
2023-08-24
Patch Due Date
2023-09-14
Ransomware Use
Known
Required Action
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2023-08-23
Last Modified
2026-08-05
NVD status
Analyzed
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-w5x7-vwr2-4x27

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-38831?

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.

Is CVE-2023-38831 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2023-38831 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild. CISA requires federal agencies to patch by 2023-09-14.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-38831?

CVE-2023-38831 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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Sources for this record