What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-48800: Notepad++: Arbitrary Code Execution via shortcuts.xml UserCommand Injection

• Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: yes
• Published: 2026-06-26 · updated 2026-06-30
• Weakness: CWE-78

Description

Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. Prior to 8.9.6.1, the <Command> tag text content inside <UserDefinedCommands> in shortcuts.xml is read by NppXml::value(aNode) (Parameters.cpp:3658) in the feedUserCmds() function and stored in UserCommand._cmd without any validation. When the user clicks the corresponding entry in the Run menu, NppCommands.cpp:4264 creates a Command object with string2wstring(ucmd.getCmd()) and calls run(), which invokes ShellExecute (RunDlg.cpp:221) with the attacker-controlled string as the executable path. The injected command appears as a normal menu item in the Run menu, making it a viable persistence mechanism. This vulnerability is fixed in 8.9.6.1.

Affected products

• Notepad++: before 8.9.6.1 — fixed in 8.9.6.1

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Notepad++ 8.9.6.1. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/commit/6b3dc52a9245c6d8c6287a8d6d93a30981c05feb
• https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/security/advisories/GHSA-3x3f-3j39-pj3v
• https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/security/advisories/GHSA-3x3f-3j39-pj3v

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