Is CVE-2026-46710 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-46710 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-46710?

Informational severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 26 June 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

Notepad++ Notepad++ 8.9.4 to 8.9.5.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-46710?

A patch was published on 2026-06-26: Fix confirmed in version 8.9.6 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

How is CVE-2026-46710 attacked?

It is attacked with local access, in a network appliance.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-46710?

Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

CVE-2026-46710: Notepad++ privilege escalation in installer via untrusted search path

CVE-2026-46710 · Severity: info · CVSS 7.5 · Published 2026-06-26

Notepad++ is a popular open-source text and source code editor. A security flaw in its installer allows a local attacker to gain administrative control of a computer if a user installs the software into a folder where the attacker has already placed a malicious file. This could lead to a full system takeover or the installation of persistent malware.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-46710 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-46710 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-46710?: Informational severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 26 June 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: Notepad++ Notepad++ 8.9.4 to 8.9.5.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-46710?: A patch was published on 2026-06-26: Fix confirmed in version 8.9.6 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-46710 attacked?: It is attacked with local access, in a network appliance.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-46710?: Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

Technical details

A local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Notepad++ installer (versions 8.9.4 and 8.9.5) due to an uncontrolled search path (CWE-426). During the installation process, the installer sets the working directory to the 'contextMenu' folder and subsequently calls 'powershell.exe' without specifying an absolute path. If an attacker pre-places a malicious 'powershell.exe' in a user-writable directory that is then selected as the installation target by a privileged user, the installer will execute the malicious file with elevated privileges. This issue is resolved in version 8.9.6 by retrieving the absolute path of PowerShell from the Windows Registry.

Affected products

Notepad++ Notepad++ 8.9.4 to 8.9.5

Timeline

2026-05-21: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published
2026-06-26: disclosed: CVE published to NVD
2026-06-26: patched: Fix confirmed in version 8.9.6

References

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