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Fencer Intel
medium 6.5

CVE-2026-34401 json

XML Notepad: XML External Entity (XXE) Injection via Unsafe XmlTextReader in XML Diff and Schema Loading

published 7mo ago modified 3mo ago also EUVD-2026-17666

cvss
6.5
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
1.0%
EPSS 1.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 63%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

XML Notepad is a Windows program that provides a simple intuitive User Interface for browsing and editing XML documents. Prior to version 2.9.0.21, XML Notepad does not disable DTD processing by default which means external entities are resolved automatically. There is a well known attack related to malicious DTD files where an attacker to craft a malicious XML file that loads a DTD that causes XML Notepad to make outbound HTTP/SMB requests, potentially leaking local file contents or capturing the victim's NTLM credentials. This issue has been patched in version 2.9.0.21.

Patch / fix

Is CVE-2026-34401 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

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CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
7mo ago

Exploit prediction

1.02% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 63% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/microsoft/XmlNotepad/security/advisories/GHSA-5j32-486h-42ch referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 6.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Affected products

  • microsoft XmlNotepad

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-611 Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.