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Vulnerability record · CVE-2026-46710 · published 26 June 2026

CVE-2026-46710: Notepad-plus-plus notepad\+\+ untrusted search path vulnerability

Notepad Plus Plus · Notepad\+\+

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.

7.5 CVSS 4.0 High EPSS 0.15% · top 96.4% CWE-426 · Untrusted search path
7.5CVSS 4.0 base score
0.15%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
2References
29 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

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.

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:

Affected products

1 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/commit/1d4aabe2102d982667ead2dd974bee5e0b1f2d9c Patch
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/security/advisories/GHSA-6f8f-vmfc-r8c5 PatchVendor Advisory

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Same products first, then exploited flaws of the same weakness class.

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2026-46710), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-28). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.