CVE-2026-48800
CVE-2026-48800 — Notepad++: Arbitrary Code Execution via shortcuts.xml UserCommand Injection
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.
Published Updated Sources: cvelistV5, GitHub_M
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the scoring sources call it.
Exploitation
Exploit code
public exploit, none observed
EPSS
0%
chance of exploitation in 30 days
CVSS base
7.8
HIGH
CISA SSVC assessment
Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses · SSVC 2.0.3. A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.
Exploitation
PoC
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script all four kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component
Affected scope
The catalog records vendors and products as separate lists, not pairs, so which product belongs to which vendor is not something this page can say.
Vendors (1)
Products (1)
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.8 | CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | — | — | cvelistV5 |
Weakness & attack patterns
- CWE-78
Public exploit
Capability, not use: code existing is a different claim from anyone running it.
Indexed by
References
2 on the record
Elsewhere on this site
- notepad plus plusevery CVE for this vendor
- CWE-78other pages naming this weakness
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.