Critical Zip Slip Bug Enables Malicious File Manipulation on Unzip

Zip Slip is a path traversal flaw that lets attackers manipulate file systems when archives are decompressed, a risk the article describes as a serious danger in cybersecurity threats. It stems from inadequate input validation in compression utilities, allowing malicious paths to be embedded in ZIP, TAR, RAR, and 7Z archives and leading to unauthorized file creation, overwriting, or execution outside intended directories.

Decompression tools that fail to sanitise paths can be exploited when archives contain traversal sequences such as “../” or absolute paths, potentially enabling remote code execution or persistent backdoors, with examples across Linux and Windows targets.

According to ASEC report, zip Slip operates by injecting crafted file paths into metadata, which are then interpreted literally during extraction, and the article notes notable vulnerabilities including CVE-2025-8088 affecting WinRAR and CVE-2025-6218 in WinRAR prior to 7.12. It also cites CVE-2022-30333 in Unrar and CVE-2018-20250 in WinRAR, underscoring a long history of exploitation. Mitigations include robust path normalisation and timely updates to tools such as WinRAR, as software integrates into build pipelines and cloud services.