Notepad++ < 8.8.2 Privelege Escalation (CVE-2025-49144)

high Nessus Plugin ID 240630

Synopsis

A text editor on the remote Windows host is affected by privilege escalation.

Description

The version of Notepad++ installed on the remote host is prior to 8.8.2. It is, therefore, affected by a privilege escalation vulnerability:

- 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.
(CVE-2025-49144) Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

Solution

Upgrade to Notepad++ 8.8.2 or later.

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 240630

File Name: notepad_plus_plus_8_8_2.nasl

Version: 1.1

Type: local

Agent: windows

Family: Windows

Published: 6/26/2025

Updated: 6/26/2025

Configuration: Enable thorough checks (optional)

Supported Sensors: Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Critical

Score: 9.0

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.8

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2025-49144

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.3

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Vulnerability Information

CPE: cpe:/a:notepad-plus-plus:notepad%5c%2b%5c%2b

Required KB Items: SMB/Registry/Enumerated, installed_sw/Notepad++

Vulnerability Publication Date: 6/21/2025

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2025-49144

Detections

Analytics