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.
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Fri, 26 Jun 2026 21:00:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | |
| Title | Notepad++: Privilege Escalation in the Installer via Uncontrolled Executable Search Path | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-426 | |
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cvssV4_0
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: GitHub_M
Published:
Updated: 2026-06-26T20:16:16.022Z
Reserved: 2026-05-15T23:26:58.309Z
Link: CVE-2026-46710
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OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-06-26T22:30:04Z