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NVD / CVE Program· CNA GitHub_M

CVE-2026-46710: Notepad++: Privilege Escalation in the Installer via Uncontrolled Executable Search Path

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 30/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.15% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.
  • Fixed version: notepad-plus-plus notepad-plus-plus 8.9.6.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to notepad-plus-plus notepad-plus-plus 8.9.6 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Notepad++ 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.

HighCVSS 7.5 · v4.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Jun 26, 2026
Updated
Jun 29, 2026
EPSS
0.1% · 4th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

30

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · GitHub_M
7.5
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

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

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-46710

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
notepad-plus-plusnotepad\+\+

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • notepad-plus-plus notepad++8.9.4 and later · before 8.9.6

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (GitHub_M). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • notepad-plus-plus notepad-plus-plus

    • >= 8.9.4, < 8.9.6affected

Same product

notepad-plus-plus: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2025-15556Notepad++ < 8.8.9 WinGUp Updater Lacks Update Integrity VerificationKEV
    61This week
  • CVE-2026-52884Notepad++: CVE-2026-48800 Bypass
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2026-48800Notepad++: Arbitrary Code Execution via shortcuts.xml UserCommand Injection
    31Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-25926Feb 18, 2026 · Notepad++ has an Untrusted Search Path
    29Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-6539Apr 30, 2026 · Notepad++ 8.9.3 Format String Injection via nativeLang.xml
    18Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-48770Jun 26, 2026 · Notepad++ WM_COPYDATA COPYDATA_FULL_CMDLINE local DoS crash
    20Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
notepad-plus-plus notepad-plus-plus8.9.6 · descriptionVendor (CNA)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2026-25926128 days apartNotepad++ has an Untrusted Search Path
    29Monitor

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
X

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-426 · Untrusted Search Path

CVSS vector

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

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

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References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records