CVE-2026-38972

Severity CVSS v4.0:

Pending analysis

Type:

CWE-427 Uncontrolled Search Path Element

Publication date:

02/07/2026

Last modified:

08/07/2026

Description

Notepad3 through 6.25.822.1 contains a DLL search-order hijacking vulnerability in the About-dialog code path in src/Notepad3.c. The application calls LoadLibrary(L"MSFTEDIT.DLL") with a bare DLL name, which allows a local attacker to place a malicious MSFTEDIT.DLL in the application directory or another preferred DLL search location and achieve arbitrary code execution in the context of the user when the About dialog is opened.

Impact

Vector 3.x

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H CVSS v3.1 Severity and Metrics:

Base Score: 7.80 HIGH
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector (AV): Local
Attack Complexity (AC): Low
Privileges Required (PR): None
User Interaction (UI): Required
Scope (S): Unchanged
Confidentiality (C): High
Integrity (I): High
Availability (A): High