Notepad++: Privilege Escalation in the Installer via Uncontrolled Executable Search Path

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Summary

CVECVE-2026-46710
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-06-26 21:16:33 UTC
Updated2026-06-29 21:21:38 UTC
DescriptionNotepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. From 8.9.4 until 8.9.6, Notepad++ contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the installer. During installation, the installer invokes powershell.exe without using an absolute path after setting the working directory to the installation contextMenu directory. If an attacker can pre-place a malicious powershell.exe in a user-writable custom installation directory, and a privileged user later runs the installer and selects that directory, the attacker-controlled executable is launched with the elevated privileges of the installer. This vulnerability is fixed in 8.9.6.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v4.0 7.5 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

EPSS: 0.001080000 probability, percentile 0.014550000 (date 2026-06-30)

Problem Types: CWE-426 | CWE-426 CWE-426: Untrusted Search Path

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
4.0[email protected]Secondary7.5HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C...
4.0CNADECLARED7.5HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
3.1[email protected]Primary7.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v4.0 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Sub Conf.
None
Sub Integrity
None
Sub Availability
None

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Application Notepad-plus-plus Notepad All All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Notepad-plus-plus Notepad-plus-plus affected >= 8.9.4, < 8.9.6 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/security/advisories/GHSA-... [email protected] github.com Patch, Vendor Advisory
github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/commit/1d4aabe2102d982667... [email protected] github.com Patch
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