Vulnerability · Published Jun 26, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-48800Notepad++: Arbitrary Code Execution via shortcuts.xml UserCommand Injection
High 7.8
In plain English
A high-severity OS command injection in notepad-plus-plus from notepad-plus-plus. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 11% of all known vulnerabilities). Ready-made attack tooling exists: public proof-of-concept code.
Official 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 (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| notepad-plus-plus | notepad-plus-plus | < 8.9.6.1 |
Weakness: CWE-78 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H