Description
Directory traversal vulnerability in UnZip 5.50 allows attackers to overwrite arbitrary files via invalid characters between two . (dot) characters, which are filtered and result in a ".." sequence.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | unzip | 5.50-3 | — |
| Debian 13 | unzip | 5.50-3 | — |
| Debian 12 | unzip | 5.50-3 | — |
| Debian 3.0 | unzip | 5.50-1woody2 | DSA-344 |
Public exploits
Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.
Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.
Exploit-DB 1
- Info-ZIP UnZip 5.50 - Encoded Character Hostile Destination Path EDB-22584 · remote · May 10, 2003 · verified
GitHub 1 repository
-
sionnx/cve-2003-0282 ★ 0 · Jun 14, 2020
Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.
Advisories 1
- DSA-344 unzip - directory traversal Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- 20030509 unzip directory traversal revisited mailing-list
- CLA-2003:672 vendor-advisory
- unzip-dotdot-directory-traversal(12004) vdb-entry
- http://www.info-zip.org/FAQ.html
- RHSA-2003:199 vendor-advisory
- MDKSA-2003:073 vendor-advisory
- TLSA-2003-42 vendor-advisory
- oval:org.mitre.oval:def:619 vdb-entry signature
- N-111 third-party-advisory government-resource
- 7550 vdb-entry
- 20030710 [OpenPKG-SA-2003.033] OpenPKG Security Advisory (infozip) mailing-list
- RHSA-2003:200 vendor-advisory
- IMNX-2003-7+-017-01 vendor-advisory
- DSA-344 vendor-advisory