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Fencer Intel
medium 5.4

CVE-2026-71858 json

Notepad++: shortcuts.xml Macro HMAC Bypass Enables Conditional Elevated Command Execution

published 3mo ago modified 2mo ago also EUVD-2026-60373 , GHSA-f4rj-vqq4-wvg4

Unreviewed: the maintainers' own advisory

Published by the maintainers on their GitHub repository notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus. GitHub has not reviewed it into the GitHub Advisory Database, so the affected packages and versions are the maintainers' word. Read the full advisory on GitHub.

cvss
5.4
version 4.0, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.1%
EPSS 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 1%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. Prior to 8.9.7, macros loaded from an attacker-controlled shortcuts.xml bypass the HMAC validation applied to UserDefinedCommands and can invoke Scintilla actions and the internal Open in Default Viewer command in an elevated Notepad++ process, allowing protected file modification and conditional elevated command execution when a local attacker influences settingsDir and a user triggers the macro. This issue is fixed in version 8.9.7.

Patch / fix

  • notepad-plus-plus notepad++ 8.9.7

Is CVE-2026-71858 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
total
Assessed
2mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.12% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 1% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-11).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/security/advisories/GHSA-f4rj-vqq4-wvg4 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 4.0 5.4 CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CNA 4.0 5.4 CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

Affected products

  • notepad-plus-plus notepad-plus-plus

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command
  • CWE-345 Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity
  • CWE-693 Protection Mechanism Failure

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.

The maintainers of notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus published their own advisory on GitHub. Reviewed sources take precedence over it.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.