Security Resilience

CVE-2023-40036

Memory Safety in Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+ ≤ 8.5.6

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
25 August 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
CVSS Score v3.1 5.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0037 30th percentile
Risk Priority 43 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-40036 is a medium-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique NTDS (T1003.003); ranked at the 30th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

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

more

information. As of time of publication, no known patches are available in existing versions of Notepad++.

CWE(s)
CWE-120

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
attack.mitre.org →
T1010 Application Window Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of open application windows.
attack.mitre.org →
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-40164Same product: Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+
CVE-2023-40031Same product: Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+
CVE-2023-40166Same product: Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+
CVE-2026-48770Same product: Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+
CVE-2026-6539Same product: Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+
CVE-2026-5525Same product: Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+
CVE-2026-52884Same product: Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+
CVE-2026-48778Same product: Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+
CVE-2026-48800Same product: Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+
CVE-2023-6401Same product: Notepad-Plus-Plus Notepad\+\+

Affected Assets

notepad-plus-plus
notepad\+\+
≤ 8.5.6

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.1

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SC-27 Platform-independent Applications
addresses: CWE-120

Platform-independent managed code eliminates the need for unchecked native buffer copies that are the root cause of classic buffer overflows.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability identification processes such as code review or scanning detect classic buffer overflows before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing unchecked buffer copies with corrected versions.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure development practices directly enforce bounds checking and input validation that prevent classic buffer overflows.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References