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Notepad++ EUVDEUVD-2026-84574

| CVE-2026-86056 MEDIUM
NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476)
2026-09-22 GitHub_M
5.5
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: GitHub_M
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Run local process at equal/higher integrity on desktop
  2. Delivery
    Locate Notepad++ window handle
  3. Exploit
    Send NPPM_SAVESESSION with null lParam
  4. Execution
    Handler dereferences null sessionInfo pointer
  5. Impact
    Notepad++ crashes, unsaved documents lost

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A10:2025 - Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions
ASVS 5.0
V16 - Security Logging and Error Handling Null pointer safety, defensive checks
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Requires LOCAL code execution: the attacker must already control a process running at the same or a higher Windows integrity level on the same interactive desktop session as the running Notepad++ instance, so it can send the NPPM_SAVESESSION window message with a null lParam to the Notepad++ window. No authentication over the network and no victim user interaction is needed once such a local process exists, but the prerequisite of an equal-or-higher-integrity local process on the same desktop is a significant limiting factor. Impact is confined to crashing the editor (denial of service) and loss of any unsaved documents - there is no confidentiality or integrity compromise. Only versions prior to 8.9.8 are affected; the platform is Windows exclusively.

Impact

This is a genuinely low-priority, low-severity issue despite being a memory-safety bug. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, base 5.5 MEDIUM) is availability-only - no confidentiality or integrity impact - and requires LOCAL access (AV:L) plus an already-running process at the same or higher Windows integrity level on the same interactive desktop (PR:L). The SSVC decision framework aligns: Exploitation=poc (proof-of-concept exists, consistent with a trivially-crafted window message and the visible one-line patch), Automatable=no, and Technical Impact=partial - three signals that all point to a nuisance-grade local DoS rather than a remotely-exploitable priority. There is no CISA KEV listing and no EPSS score was provided; per the precision rules, absence of these is not an exploitation signal. The key limiting factor to stress: an attacker who can run a process at equal-or-higher integrity on the victim's desktop already possesses substantial local capability, so crashing Notepad++ (and losing unsaved documents) adds little to their position. Bottom line: real-world risk is low; this is a correctly-scored MEDIUM that does not warrant emergency patching, only routine update to 8.9.8.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A malicious or compromised process running at the same or higher integrity level on the victim's interactive desktop sends the Notepad++ window an NPPM_SAVESESSION message with a null lParam. The handler blindly casts lParam to a sessionInfo pointer and dereferences it, immediately crashing the editor and discarding any unsaved work. A proof-of-concept is indicated by the SSVC 'poc' status, but no active exploitation (KEV) is reported.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Sep 22, 2026

Denial of service and loss of unsaved work in Notepad++ versions prior to 8.9.8: a local process running at the same or a higher Windows integrity level on the same interactive desktop can send the NPPM_SAVESESSION window message with a null lParam, causing an immediate null-pointer dereference and termination of the editor. The flaw is rated CVSS 3.1 5.5 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H), meaning it requires a local low-privileged attacker process already present on the desktop, with no network vector, no user interaction, and impact limited to availability - no confidentiality or integrity compromise. Proof-of-concept level exploitation is indicated by SSVC (Exploitation: poc), and publicly available exploit code exists, but the issue is not confirmed as actively exploited in CISA KEV; the vendor-released patch is version 8.9.8.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: 8.9.8. Upgrade every Windows installation of Notepad++ to 8.9.8 or later via the official release at https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/tag/v8.9.8 (announcement: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/v898-released), following the advisory at https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/security/advisories/GHSA-j85c-6wc9-p98p; the fix is the upstream commit 8b33f52e7aa488b1222d3cfce5903a38dd63101f, which simply rejects a null lParam. If immediate upgrading is not possible, the only meaningful compensating controls are ones that reduce the blast radius rather than block the attack, since the trigger is a window message and cannot be filtered: enabling Notepad++'s session snapshot and periodic backup (Settings > Preferences > Backup) mitigates the loss-of-unsaved-documents consequence of a crash at the cost of disk writes and local copies of file contents, and enforcing a strict integrity boundary - not running untrusted or low-integrity code on the same interactive desktop session as the editor, and using separate user sessions or sandboxing for untrusted workloads - removes the same-or-higher-integrity prerequisite, though it is operationally heavyweight and offers no protection against equal-integrity malware already running as the user. Because impact is confined to availability (no confidentiality or integrity effect), prioritization can remain low and upgrades can be rolled into routine maintenance.

Affected VersionsENISA

notepad-plus-plus < 8.9.8

Affected Packages

euvd notepad_plus_plus fix: 8.9.8

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Notepad++ exposes a Windows message-based plugin API in which integer message IDs such as NPPM_SAVESESSION are handled by a central dispatch function in PowerEditor/src/NppBigSwitch.cpp. In the vulnerable code path, the handler casts lParam directly to a sessionInfo pointer and dereferences its nbFile, files, and sessionFilePathName members without any validation. Because lParam is attacker-controlled for any process able to post or send that message to the Notepad++ window, supplying a null lParam produces a read from address 0, which is an unhandled access violation mapped to CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference). Windows User Interface Privilege Isolation (UIPI) normally prevents a lower-integrity process from sending window messages to a higher-integrity process, which is why the practical prerequisite is a process at the same or higher integrity level on the same interactive desktop session - for example, another unsandboxed user-level application or a medium-integrity process on the same logon session. The upstream fix (commit 8b33f52e7aa488b1222d3cfce5903a38dd63101f) is a single defensive guard, 'if (!lParam) return FALSE;', added at the top of the NPPM_SAVESESSION branch; the same message is also documented as a plugin-facing API, so the affected surface is not limited to a purely internal call path.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (GitHub_M) PRIMARY 5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI 5.5 MEDIUM

AV:L and PR:L because a same-or-higher-integrity local process on the same desktop is required; A:H reflects app crash with data loss; no C/I impact.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (GitHub_M).

CVSS VectorVendor: GitHub_M

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Patch available
Sep 22, 2026 - 18:02 EUVD
CVE Published
Sep 22, 2026 - 17:14 cve.org
MEDIUM 5.5

DescriptionCVE.org

Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. Prior to 8.9.8, the NPPM_SAVESESSION handler in PowerEditor/src/NppBigSwitch.cpp converts lParam to a sessionInfo pointer and dereferences its nbFile, files, and sessionFilePathName members without checking for null. A process running at the same or a higher Windows integrity level on the same desktop can send NPPM_SAVESESSION with a null lParam, immediately terminating Notepad++ and causing denial of service and loss of unsaved documents. This issue is fixed in version 8.9.8.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 94% exploitable
Prevalence
High
Notepad++ is one of the most widely deployed Windows source-code editors
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
Data Quality
7 sources
Confidence: High
EUVD NVD CVE.org EPSS Vulnrichment GitHub VulDB

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC Yes
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
High
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

48
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +28
PoC: +20
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A null pointer dereference occurs when a program attempts to access memory through a pointer that has been set to NULL (address 0x0).

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