How to Report Bugs in the UnRAR Utility

Reporting a bug discovered in the unrar utility requires identifying which implementation you are running, collecting diagnostic logs and reproduction files, and submitting your findings directly to RARLAB, your Linux distribution maintainer, or the appropriate open-source bug tracker.

1. Identify Your unrar Implementation

Before submitting a report, check whether you are running the official proprietary freeware version developed by RARLAB or an open-source alternative such as unrar-free. Run the following command in your terminal:

unrar
  • Official RARLAB UnRAR: Displays a copyright notice referencing Alexander Roshal or RARLAB.
  • Open-source unrar-free: Displays a reference to the Free Software Foundation or the Debian project.

2. Gather Reproduction Details

To help developers diagnose and fix the issue quickly, assemble the following information:

  • Version and Architecture: Run unrar -v or check your package manager to get the exact version number (for example, unrar 6.24 64-bit).
  • Environment: Specify your operating system, OS version, and CPU architecture.
  • Command and Arguments: Document the exact command line executed when the failure occurred.
  • Expected vs. Actual Behavior: State what should have occurred compared to what actually happened (such as incorrect extraction output, an unhandled error, or an unexpected exit code).
  • Sample Archive: Provide a minimal, non-confidential RAR archive that reliably triggers the bug.
  • Crash or Memory Diagnostics: If the issue involves a crash, buffer overflow, or segmentation fault, include a backtrace generated with gdb or output from AddressSanitizer (ASan).

3. Submit the Bug Report

Choose the reporting destination that matches your software source:

For the Official RARLAB unrar

  • Direct Email: Send the technical details directly to RARLAB's development and support team at support@rarlab.com.
  • RARLAB Web Forum: Post the non-sensitive reproduction details in the official WinRAR / RAR support forum hosted at rarlab.com.
  • Security Disclosures: If the vulnerability has potential security implications (e.g., arbitrary code execution or directory traversal), clearly mark the email subject line as a security vulnerability and avoid sharing proof-of-concept archives publicly until a patch is released.

For Distribution-Packaged Versions

If you installed unrar through an operating system package manager (such as apt, dnf, or pacman) and suspect a packaging or build issue:

  • Debian / Ubuntu: File a bug against the unrar or unrar-free package using the reportbug tool or on Launchpad.
  • Fedora / Red Hat: Submit a report via Red Hat Bugzilla under the corresponding package component.
  • Arch Linux: Submit the report to the Arch Linux Bugtracker.

For unrar-free

If using the open-source clone unrar-free, file issues directly in the project's upstream repository on the Savannah bug tracking system or the relevant project hosting platform maintained by the Debian community.