WinRAR 5.21 was a maintenance and refinement release following the major jump to the compression format introduced in version 5.0. 1. Integration and Interface Improvements
: By default, WinRAR 5.21 began skipping symbolic links with absolute paths during extraction. This prevents a potential security risk where an archive could attempt to write files to sensitive directories outside the intended destination folder (like C:\Windows ). winrar-x86-521b2.exe
: If a winrar.ini file is detected in the same folder as the installer ( winrar-x86-521b2.exe ), it is automatically copied to the program folder upon installation, making it easier for users to deploy custom settings. 2. Compression Engine Refinements WinRAR 5
: Developers added options to disable WinRAR's specific archiving and extraction commands in the context menu that appears when dragging and dropping files with the right mouse button. This prevents a potential security risk where an
While the RAR5 format was already established, version 5.21 improved the consistency of archive volumes.
One of the primary focuses of the 5.21 development cycle was refining how WinRAR interacted with the Windows shell.
: Users can re-enable these links via the "Allow absolute paths in symbolic links" option if they trust the source. Technical Context