CVE-2019-25477 in RAR Password Recovery
Summary
by MITRE • 03/11/2026
RAR Password Recovery 1.80 contains a buffer overflow vulnerability that allows local attackers to crash the application by supplying an oversized payload in the registration dialog. Attackers can craft a malicious input string exceeding 6000 bytes and paste it into the User Name and Registration Code field to trigger an application crash.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/14/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-25477 resides within RAR Password Recovery version 1.80, a commercial tool designed for recovering passwords from RAR archives. This application presents a classic buffer overflow flaw that manifests when processing user input through its registration dialog interface. The vulnerability specifically targets the handling of strings entered in the User Name and Registration Code fields, creating a critical security weakness that can be exploited by local attackers with minimal privileges. The flaw represents a fundamental failure in input validation and memory management within the application's core processing routines.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate bounds checking mechanisms within the software's input processing logic. When an attacker supplies a malicious input string exceeding 6000 bytes, the application fails to properly validate the length of the data before attempting to store it in a predetermined memory buffer. This condition creates a situation where the input data overflows the allocated buffer space, causing unpredictable memory corruption and ultimately leading to application termination. The vulnerability operates at the application level rather than at the system level, making it a local privilege escalation vector that requires user interaction but does not demand elevated system permissions.
The operational impact of this buffer overflow vulnerability extends beyond simple application instability, as it creates a reliable crash condition that can be exploited for denial-of-service attacks against legitimate users. Local attackers can consistently trigger the vulnerability by simply pasting a crafted oversized string into the registration fields, making this a particularly concerning weakness for a password recovery tool that users might employ in security-sensitive contexts. The vulnerability's predictability and ease of exploitation mean that any user who interacts with the registration dialog could inadvertently cause the application to crash, potentially disrupting legitimate password recovery operations.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and represents a clear violation of secure coding practices. The flaw demonstrates poor defensive programming techniques and highlights the importance of implementing proper input validation and memory boundary checks. Attackers could potentially leverage this vulnerability to disrupt service availability or, in more sophisticated scenarios, to craft payloads that might be used in combination with other vulnerabilities to achieve more significant security impacts. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a local privilege escalation technique, as it allows attackers to manipulate application behavior without requiring administrative privileges.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate patching of the affected software version, as the vendor has likely released updates addressing the buffer overflow condition. System administrators should implement application whitelisting policies to restrict execution of untrusted binaries and consider deploying additional security controls such as application sandboxing to limit the potential impact of such vulnerabilities. Users should be educated about the risks of interacting with untrusted input fields and the importance of keeping software updated. Additionally, organizations should conduct regular vulnerability assessments to identify similar buffer overflow conditions in other applications and establish proper input validation procedures to prevent recurrence of such issues in their software development lifecycle.