WinRAR users update ASAP to fix security vulnerability that exposes PCs to hackers

Security researchers have discovered a security vulnerability within the popular compression software WinRAR, which leaves PCs exposed to hackers.

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A new report from Bleeping Computer details the new security vulnerability that was first reported on June 5, 2025, through Zero Day Initiative. The vulnerability has been labeled CVE-2025-6218 and was discovered in older versions of the popular file compression tool.

More specifically, the vulnerability causes PCs to be vulnerable to hackers as they can bypass the app's built-in security features, enabling the machine to have an increased level of risk to malware and other executable software that could be potentially nefarious.

WinRAR has been made aware of the security vulnerability and issued a fix for it with version 7.12 beta 1 on June 24, 2025. The patch for the vulnerability also comes with two minor fixes. At the moment there aren't any known instances of this exploit resulting in a PC being hijacked or infected, but it's always good to stay on top of software especially when there are known exploits, particularly now that it has been made public as hackers will now be on the lookout for any PCs that haven't yet patched the hole.

"When extracting a file, previous versions of WinRAR, Windows versions of RAR, UnRAR, portable UnRAR source code and UnRAR.dll can be tricked into using a path, defined in a specially crafted archive, instead of user specified path," explains WinRAR