If You Use 7-Zip You Need to Update it Right Away

If you use 7-Zip, be advised that security vulnerability has just been discovered that may allow hackers to install software on you PC or view, edit, and delete data on your PC. The vulnerability as just recently discovered and no reports of an exploits actually affecting 7-zip users have been reported.

Luckily, the fix is easy. Just update your 7-Zip to the latest version (Version 1805) or 7-Zip. To update your 7-Zip just go to https://www.7-zip.org/ and download the correct version (32-bit or 64-bit) for your computer.

Here’s more on the vulnerability from PC Gamer.

7-Zip is free, open-source file archiving software that’s been around for an awfully long time—nearly two decades, according to Wikipedia. It’s barebones, it’s simple, and it works, which is why we included it in our list of essential applications for a fresh PC. Unfortunately, as discovered by the Center for Internet Security, it also suffers from a pretty serious security vulnerability that can enable “arbitrary code execution.”

What that means, basically, is that someone who successfully exploits this security flaw could install programs on your PC, view, edit, or delete data, or create new user accounts with full access rights. The good news is that CIS says there are no reports of this actually happening, but the bad news is that the security flaw is present in all versions of 7-Zip prior to 18.05. That version was just released on April 30, which means that unless you’ve updated sometime within the last four days, your PC is exposed.

Read the entire PC Gamer article here.