{"id":"CVE-2025-49144","aliases":["EUVD-2025-19601","GHSA-9vx8-v79m-6m24"],"status":"published","title":"Notepad++ Privilege Escalation in Installer via Uncontrolled Executable Search Path","description":"Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. In versions 8.8.1 and prior, a privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Notepad++ v8.8.1 installer that allows unprivileged users to gain SYSTEM-level privileges through insecure executable search paths. An attacker could use social engineering or clickjacking to trick users into downloading both the legitimate installer and a malicious executable to the same directory (typically Downloads folder - which is known as Vulnerable directory). Upon running the installer, the attack executes automatically with SYSTEM privileges. This issue has been fixed and will be released in version 8.8.2.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":7.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-11","score":0.00658,"percentile":0.51941,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":true,"fix_available":false},"cwes":["CWE-272","CWE-276","CWE-427"],"published":"2025-06-23T19:01:16Z","modified":"2026-11-03T22:03:05Z","exploits":[{"source":"pocgithub","id":"Vr00mm/CVE-2025-49144","title":"Vr00mm/CVE-2025-49144","date":"2025-06-24","url":"https://github.com/Vr00mm/CVE-2025-49144"},{"source":"pocgithub","id":"TheTorjanCaptain/CVE-2025-49144_PoC","title":"TheTorjanCaptain/CVE-2025-49144_PoC","date":"2025-06-25","url":"https://github.com/TheTorjanCaptain/CVE-2025-49144_PoC"},{"source":"pocgithub","id":"assad12341/notepad-v8.8.1-LPE-CVE-","title":"assad12341/notepad-v8.8.1-LPE-CVE-","date":"2025-06-26","url":"https://github.com/assad12341/notepad-v8.8.1-LPE-CVE-"},{"source":"pocgithub","id":"b0ySie7e/Notepad-8.8.1_CVE-2025-49144","title":"b0ySie7e/Notepad-8.8.1_CVE-2025-49144","date":"2025-06-29","url":"https://github.com/b0ySie7e/Notepad-8.8.1_CVE-2025-49144"},{"source":"pocgithub","id":"GiZcesi/HJregsvr32","title":"GiZcesi/HJregsvr32","date":"2025-07-02","url":"https://github.com/GiZcesi/HJregsvr32"},{"source":"pocgithub","id":"timsonner/CVE-2025-49144-Research","title":"timsonner/CVE-2025-49144-Research","date":"2025-07-02","url":"https://github.com/timsonner/CVE-2025-49144-Research"},{"source":"pocgithub","id":"onniio/CVE-2025-49144","title":"onniio/CVE-2025-49144","date":"2025-09-17","url":"https://github.com/onniio/CVE-2025-49144"},{"source":"pocgithub","id":"havertz2110/CVE-2025-49144-PoC","title":"havertz2110/CVE-2025-49144-PoC","date":"2025-11-04","url":"https://github.com/havertz2110/CVE-2025-49144-PoC"}],"products":[{"vendor":"notepad-plus-plus","product":"notepad-plus-plus"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/security/advisories/GHSA-9vx8-v79m-6m24","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/commit/f2346ea00d5b4d907ed39d8726b38d77c8198f30","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","fix"]},{"url":"https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/11yeUSWgqHvt4Bz5jO3ilRRfcpQZ6Gvpn","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","web"]},{"url":"https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2025-49144-detect-notepad-vulnerability","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2025-49144-mitigate-notepad-vulnerability","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2025-49144-detect-notepad-vulnerability-1","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2025-49144-mitigate-notepad-vulnerability-1","tags":["web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2025/49xxx/CVE-2025-49144.json","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-49144","tags":["advisory"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2025-49144","title":"Notepad++ Privilege Escalation in Installer via Uncontrolled Executable Search Path","description":"Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. In versions 8.8.1 and prior, a privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Notepad++ v8.8.1 installer that allows unprivileged users to gain SYSTEM-level privileges through insecure executable search paths. An attacker could use social engineering or clickjacking to trick users into downloading both the legitimate installer and a malicious executable to the same directory (typically Downloads folder - which is known as Vulnerable directory). Upon running the installer, the attack executes automatically with SYSTEM privileges. This issue has been fixed and will be released in version 8.8.2.","status":"published","published":"2025-06-23T19:01:16.276Z","modified":"2026-11-03T22:03:05.26Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-272","CWE-276","CWE-427"],"updated_at":"2026-11-03T23:33:08.294318Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2025-19601","description":"Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. In versions 8.8.1 and prior, a privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Notepad++ v8.8.1 installer that allows unprivileged users to gain SYSTEM-level privileges through insecure executable search paths. An attacker could use social engineering or clickjacking to trick users into downloading both the legitimate installer and a malicious executable to the same directory (typically Downloads folder - which is known as Vulnerable directory). Upon running the installer, the attack executes automatically with SYSTEM privileges. This issue has been fixed and will be released in version 8.8.2.","status":"published","published":"2025-06-23T19:01:16Z","modified":"2026-11-03T22:03:05Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-03T23:01:34.673315Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2025-49144","description":"Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. In versions 8.8.1 and prior, a privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Notepad++ v8.8.1 installer that allows unprivileged users to gain SYSTEM-level privileges through insecure executable search paths. An attacker could use social engineering or clickjacking to trick users into downloading both the legitimate installer and a malicious executable to the same directory (typically Downloads folder - which is known as Vulnerable directory). Upon running the installer, the attack executes automatically with SYSTEM privileges. This issue has been fixed and will be released in version 8.8.2.","status":"published","published":"2025-06-23T19:15:23.727Z","modified":"2026-06-17T09:30:49.357Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"}],"cwes":["CWE-272","CWE-276","CWE-427"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:11:14.091082Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2025-49144","title":"Notepad++ Privilege Escalation in Installer via Uncontrolled Executable Search Path","description":"Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. In versions 8.8.1 and prior, a privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Notepad++ v8.8.1 installer that allows unprivileged users to gain SYSTEM-level privileges through insecure executable search paths. An attacker could use social engineering or clickjacking to trick users into downloading both the legitimate installer and a malicious executable to the same directory (typically Downloads folder - which is known as Vulnerable directory). Upon running the installer, the attack executes automatically with SYSTEM privileges. This issue has been fixed and will be released in version 8.8.2.","status":"published","published":"2025-06-23T19:01:16.276Z","modified":"2026-11-04T13:05:03.8231672Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.3,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-272","CWE-276","CWE-427"],"updated_at":"2026-11-04T13:40:00.290922Z"}]}}