CVE-2026-71858

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

State: Published
Severity: 5.4 Medium
Published: Aug 17, 2026
Updated: Aug 17, 2026
Reserved: Aug 7, 2026

Description

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.

Scores

CVSS	Score	Vector	Source
4.0	5.4 Medium	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	GitHub_M

Weaknesses

CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')
CWE-345 Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity
CWE-693 Protection Mechanism Failure

Affected Products

Product	Versions
notepad-plus-plusnotepad-plus-plus	< 8.9.7Affected

References

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