CVE-2023-40036: Notepad++ global buffer read overflow in CharDistributionAnalysis::HandleOneChar

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: yes
Published: 2023-08-25 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-120

Description

Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. Versions 8.5.6 and prior are vulnerable to global buffer read overflow in `CharDistributionAnalysis::HandleOneChar`. The exploitability of this issue is not clear. Potentially, it may be used to leak internal memory allocation information. As of time of publication, no known patches are available in existing versions of Notepad++.

Affected products

Notepad++: through 8.5.6

References

https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2023-092_Notepad__/
https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2023-092_Notepad__/

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