CVE-2023-40166 — Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor

Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. Versions 8.5.6 and prior are vulnerable to heap buffer read overflow in `FileManager::detectLanguageFromTextBegining `. The exploitability of this issue is not clear. Potentially, it may be used to leak internal memory alloc

01What is this vulnerability?

Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. Versions 8.5.6 and prior are vulnerable to heap buffer read overflow in `FileManager::detectLanguageFromTextBegining `. The exploitability of this issue is not clear. Potentially, it may be used to leak internal memory allocation information. As of time of publication, no known patches are available in existing versions of Notepad++.

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
notepad-plus-plus	notepad	plus-plus — <= 8.5.6

03Active exploitation status

Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection in your stack of choice:

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07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2023-08-25T20:20:20.390Z
• Last modified: 2024-10-02T14:50:07.295Z

09References

• securitylab.github.com — https://securitylab.github.com/advisories/GHSL-2023-092_Notepad__/