Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-8088

Rarlab Winrar ≤ 7.13

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedRansomware-linked
Published
08 August 2025
Modified
11 August 2026
KEV Added
12 August 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 8.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.95 99.8th percentile
Risk Priority 100 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-8088 is a high-severity Path Traversal: '.../...//' (CWE-35) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows. Its CVSS base score is 8.4 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Local System (T1005); ranked in the top 0.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

A path traversal vulnerability tracked as CVE-2025-8088 affects the Windows version of WinRAR. The flaw, assigned CWE-35 and carrying a CVSS 4.0 score of 8.4, permits attackers to execute arbitrary code through specially crafted archive files. It was discovered by ESET researchers Anton Cherepanov, Peter Košinár, and Peter Strýček.

Attackers can exploit the issue by delivering malicious archives that abuse the path traversal condition, resulting in code execution on the victim system. The vulnerability has already been exploited in the wild by at least two groups, according to public reporting.

Official guidance appears in the WinRAR advisory at win-rar.com along with mitigation references that discuss software restriction policies and image file execution options. Additional technical write-ups from Vicarius outline detection and containment steps for affected environments. The EPSS score has remained steady at 0.1161 with no material upward movement after disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A path traversal vulnerability affecting the Windows version of WinRAR allows the attackers to execute arbitrary code by crafting malicious archive files. This vulnerability was exploited in the wild and was discovered by Anton Cherepanov, Peter Košinár, and Peter Strýček…

more

from ESET.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
12 August 2025

Related Threats

Threat-Actor AttributionAI

RomCom
ESET reports RomCom and at least one other group exploiting the WinRAR zero-day (CVE-2025-8088) in the wild.

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file system.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-6218Same product: Microsoft Windowsboth on KEV
CVE-2026-59115Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2018-20250Same product: Rarlab Winrarboth on KEV
CVE-2024-36991Same product: Microsoft Windows
CVE-2024-36052Same product: Microsoft Windows
CVE-2024-43451Same vendor: Microsoftboth on KEV
CVE-2019-18187Same product: Microsoft Windowsboth on KEV
CVE-2024-7262Same product: Microsoft Windowsboth on KEV
CVE-2023-38831Same product: Rarlab Winrarboth on KEV
CVE-2020-5741Same product: Microsoft Windowsboth on KEV

Affected Assets

rarlab
winrar
≤ 7.13
dtsearch
dtsearch
≤ 2023.01

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Input validation directly neutralizes path sequences so the traversal cannot be introduced or exploited.

Enforces access authorizations on the resulting pathname, blocking traversal attempts from succeeding.

Enforces information flow rules that stop unauthorized directory escapes via crafted paths.

Least privilege reduces the impact of any successful traversal by limiting accessible resources.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and path sanitization that neutralize traversal sequences.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development can detect path-traversal flaws before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path-handling controls that directly mitigate path traversal.

prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file-path construction and canonicalization.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require proper directory restrictions and input sanitization to prevent traversal.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path concatenation and mandate canonicalization routines.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits file reachability but does not address the input-validation flaw itself.

References