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WinzipApplication

CVE-2008-3442

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-08-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
WinZip before 11.0 does not properly verify the authenticity of updates, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to execute arbitrary code via a Trojan horse update, as demonstrated by evilgrade and DNS cache poisoning.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

WinZip versions prior to 11.0 fail to properly authenticate software updates, allowing man-in-the-middle attackers to inject malicious updates that execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability is exploited via tools like evilgrade combined with DNS cache poisoning to intercept update traffic.

MitigationUpgrade to WinZip 11.0 or later which implements proper update authenticity verification. Alternatively, ensure updates are delivered only over TLS/HTTPS and verify digital signatures before applying any update.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
WinzipApplication
Affected:= 7.0= 8.0= 8.1= 9.0= 10.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine installed WinZip version
    Open WinZip and go to Help > About WinZip, or check Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel for the installed version
    Affected if Version shown is 7.0, 8.0, 8.1, 9.0, or 10.0 (any version prior to 11.0)
  2. Confirm WinZip update mechanism is active
    Check if automatic updates are enabled in WinZip under Options > Settings > Update
    Affected if Automatic update checking is turned on and the system is on an unpatched version
  3. Verify update channel security
    Inspect network traffic or proxy logs for WinZip update requests to determine if they traverse HTTP rather than HTTPS
    Affected if Updates are transmitted over unencrypted HTTP (port 80) rather than HTTPS

You are affected if WinZip version 10.0 or earlier is installed with automatic updates enabled and the update traffic is not protected by TLS/HTTPS.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to WinZip 11.0 or later which implements proper update authenticity verification. Alternatively, ensure updates are delivered only over TLS/HTTPS and verify digital signatures before applying any update.

Fix this in Winzip Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-3442 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data