Vulnerability · Published Sep 22, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

CVE-2026-85288Notepad++: Shortcuts.xml macro HMAC bypass still reachable via the "Run a Macro Multiple Times" dialog

Medium 6.7

In plain English

A medium-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 0.1% (higher than 3% of all known vulnerabilities).

Severity (CVSS 3.1)6.7Medium

Exploit odds (30 days)0.1%top 97.0% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: poc

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. Prior to 8.9.8, Notepad++ incompletely enforces shortcuts.xml HMAC validation because WM_MACRODLGRUNMACRO, the Run a Macro Multiple Times entry point, calls macroPlayback() without the validation used by command(). A tampered shortcuts.xml macro that is blocked through the Macro menu or a shortcut key can therefore execute through the multi-run dialog and invoke internal Notepad++ commands, including commands that launch external programs, in the current user context. This issue is fixed in version 8.9.8.

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
notepad-plus-plus	notepad-plus-plus	< 8.9.8

Weakness: CWE-78, CWE-345, CWE-693 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/security/advisories/GHSA-759j-g8j4-867p x_refsource_CONFIRM
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/commit/4cd74cb9347b9c6caaab17d999e24fc9ed228ff7 x_refsource_MISC
https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/tag/v8.9.8 x_refsource_MISC
https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/v898-released x_refsource_MISC