Me.zip -

📄 The Illusion of a File: Security Implications of the .zip Top-Level Domain 📌 Abstract

Most modern communication applications—including Slack, Microsoft Teams, Apple iMessage, and various email clients—rely on automated regex algorithms to scan plain text and convert domain names into clickable hyperlinks. me.zip

Top-level domains (TLDs) serve as the final segment of a URL, traditionally categorizing websites by purpose (e.g., .com , .org ) or country (e.g., .uk , .ca ). To expand the namespace, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has authorized hundreds of "gTLDs" (generic TLDs) over the last decade. 📄 The Illusion of a File: Security Implications of the

An attacker can create a URL like https://github.com . An attacker can create a URL like https://github

The security crisis materialized when TLDs matching widely used local file extensions—specifically .zip and .mov —were made available for public registration. A string like setup.zip or me.zip , which previously guaranteed local execution of an archive, can now easily resolve to a live, attacker-controlled web server. 2. Core Exploitation Vectors