Path Traversal in Notepad-Plus-Plus

CVE-2026-52886

Notepad++ is a free and open-source source code editor. Prior to 8.9.7, Notepad++ validates the backupFilePath attribute from session.xml with std::wstring::starts_with against the expected backup directory without path normalization, allowing parent-directory sequences during snapshot-mode restoration to read an arbitrary user-readable file outside the backup directory into an editor tab. This issue is fixed in version 8.9.7.

Vulnerability class: Path Traversal (Directory Traversal)

Published · last modified .

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (5.2th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 5th percentile — 5.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-52886: held from 0.002 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.002 · change: -0.001

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-52886?
CVE-2026-52886 is a vulnerability in Notepad-Plus-Plus, classified under Path Traversal. Published 2026-08-17.
Is CVE-2026-52886 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.