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Winrar threat

May be a good idea to uninstall WinRar if you have it installed ..


https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/02/nasty-code-execution-bug-in-winrar-threatened-millions-of-users-for-14-years/


It doesnt do anything 7-zip cant do anyway

Comments

  • AndyPix
    AndyPix Posts: 4,847 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Good grief
  • unforeseen
    unforeseen Posts: 7,400 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    It says it all when the people who discovered it struggled to find a way to actually exploit the flaw.
  • Neil_Jones
    Neil_Jones Posts: 9,628 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    But this isn't a WinRAR issue. It's a third party library issue. Which is dealt by WinRar.

    The compression library in question, ACE, is long out of favour and everybody uses ZIP files now.

    TL;DR - update WinRar, problem is solved.
  • I have been using WinZip, 7Zip and WinRar for years and never had a problem, it's interesting reading though. As arciere states nothing these days is 100% flawless. We should always be on our guard but sadly If someone is hell bent on finding a way in then they will.
  • When did you last see a .ACE archive? Yes, you can update. Simpler is just to delete the UNACEV2.DLL file which does exactly the same thing if you are worried. Although this mentions WinRar the same exploit will work with any zip archive program which can open .ACE, there are quite a few out. And it seems XNView also uses it.
  • that
    that Posts: 1,532 Forumite
    edited 21 February 2019 at 8:31PM
    AndyPix, ^^ A tough crowd tonight ;)
  • AndyPix
    AndyPix Posts: 4,847 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    that wrote: »
    AndyPix, ^^ A tough crowd tonight ;)


    Hehe - that's ok :) im only spreading knowledge


    Some folk prefer to have AVG installed to make them feel safe ..
    The rest of us like to know about potential threats so we can act accordingly, and be actually safe ;)
  • stragglebod
    stragglebod Posts: 1,324 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Surely installing AVG would make people feel old, rather than safe? IIRC it was the must-have antivirus around the turn of the millenium.
  • arciere
    arciere Posts: 1,361 Forumite
    Eighth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Surely installing AVG would make people feel old, rather than safe? IIRC it was the must-have antivirus around the turn of the millenium.
    Good one :rotfl:
    I stopped using it ages ago, but I, too, remember when it was one of the best free AV on the market.
    Then they started "integrating" all that rubbish stuff like identity protection, browser add-ons, ads messages here and there...
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