WinRAR Under Threat: New Vulnerability Bypasses Windows Protection

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs warns users about a critical vulnerability in the popular WinRAR archiver, which allows attackers to surreptitiously inject malicious code, bypassing built-in Windows security mechanisms.

Hacking Apr 8, 2025 0 9 Add to Reading List

WinRAR Under Threat: New Vulnerability Bypasses Windows Protection

Specialists from the Department for Combating Illegal Use of Information and Communication Technologies of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs have warned about the discovery of a critical vulnerability in the popular WinRAR archiver. This vulnerability allows attackers to bypass the built-in protective mechanisms of the Windows operating system and secretly introduce malicious code.

Experts have established that the attack method is based on the distribution of specially prepared archives, which, in addition to legitimate files, contain links disguised as standard documents. When such an archive is opened and the fake document is interacted with, malicious software is automatically launched without any visible signs of infection.

Despite the fact that there have been no cases of successful exploitation of this vulnerability in Russia, experts note its high potential for danger. This is due to the huge popularity of WinRAR among users and the ability to bypass standard Windows protection tools.

The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs recommends that users exercise special caution when working with archives from unverified sources and immediately update WinRAR to version 7.11 or later, where this vulnerability has been fixed by the developers. You should also use up-to-date antivirus solutions for additional protection.