<![CDATA[v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue]]>“Vault 7: CIA Hacking Tools Revealed” has been published by Wikileaks recentely, and Notepad++ is on the list.

The issue of a hijacked DLL concerns scilexer.dll (needed by Notepad++) on a compromised PC, which is replaced by a modified scilexer.dll built by the CIA. When Notepad++ is launched, the modified scilexer.dll is loaded instead of the original one.
It doesn’t mean that CIA is interested in your coding skill or in your sex message content, but rather it prevents raising any red flags while the DLL does data collection in the background.

It’s not a vulnerability/security issue in Notepad++, but for remedying this issue, from this release (v7.3.3) forward, notepad++.exe checks the certificate validation in scilexer.dll before loading it. If the certificate is missing or invalid, then it just won’t be loaded, and Notepad++ will fail to launch.

Checking the certificate of DLL makes it harder to hack. Note that once users’ PCs are compromised, the hackers can do anything on the PCs. This solution only prevents from Notepad++ loading a CIA homemade DLL. It doesn’t prevent your original notepad++.exe from being replaced by modified notepad++.exe while the CIA is controlling your PC.

Just like knowing the lock is useless for people who are willing to go into my house, I still shut the door and lock it every morning when I leave home.
We are in a f**king corrupted world, unfortunately.

https://notepad-plus-plus.org/news/notepad-7.3.3-fix-cia-hacking-issue.html

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/topic/13415/v7-3-3-fix-cia-hacking-notepad-issueRSS for NodeTue, 16 Jun 2026 05:51:40 GMTWed, 08 Mar 2017 20:56:42 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Mon, 08 May 2017 07:11:39 GMT]]>Rearranging tabs doesn’t work. Can’t drag them to reorder.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/24118https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/24118Mon, 08 May 2017 07:11:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Wed, 19 Apr 2017 20:47:07 GMT]]>The search results pane sometimes fails to open the file when double-clicking on a search result, but this seems to have gotten much worse in the latest update. Nothing happens on about half of the results that I click on now.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23706https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23706Wed, 19 Apr 2017 20:47:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Sat, 01 Apr 2017 09:03:19 GMT]]>Mike, Chuck,
The drag-and-drop functionality has been fixed and has been posted to github. This post (8 posts above you) contains links to downloadable executables that you can use right now. I believe the fix will be included in the next release.

Happy coding

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23247https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23247Sat, 01 Apr 2017 09:03:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Fri, 31 Mar 2017 22:12:01 GMT]]>@Mike-Bussey

I’m having the same issue here. I could drag and drop the tabs to re-position them before. This happened immediately after upgrading to v7.3.3 (32 bit Windows 10). The TabBar/Lock option is not checked.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23241https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23241Fri, 31 Mar 2017 22:12:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Fri, 31 Mar 2017 21:33:22 GMT]]>@Mike-Bussey I just installed this version, (v7.3.3 32-bit) and have no such issue. Make sure that TabBar/Lock under preferences is not checked off.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23238https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23238Fri, 31 Mar 2017 21:33:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Fri, 31 Mar 2017 14:20:51 GMT]]>I’ve just upgraded to Notepad++ v7.3.3 (32 bit) and I can no longer move positions of open tabs using drag and drop. Is this a known bug or a new setting?

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23227https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23227Fri, 31 Mar 2017 14:20:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 28 Mar 2017 17:13:05 GMT]]>@Aleksey–Klenin

sounds you don’t have the latest version, do you?

Cheers
Claudia

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23138https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23138Tue, 28 Mar 2017 17:13:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 28 Mar 2017 12:15:14 GMT]]>Hi guys
At me a problem, in Notepad++ I can not find in adjustments of hot keys Scintilla commands I can not find SCI_VCHOMEEXTEND, Instead, I have a 2-fold SCI_VCHOMEWRAPEXTEND
Do you also?

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23131https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23131Tue, 28 Mar 2017 12:15:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 28 Mar 2017 02:45:05 GMT]]>I am trying to use the “Find in this finder” feature in “Find in Files” window in this version to narrow down the search result. There is over 100 hits being found with “Find in files” window, but nothing is found in “Find in this finder” window even the same word is put in “Find what” entry, no matter I tick the “Search only in found lines” box or not. I have no problem with old version v7.1

By the way, Is it possible to create another finder window at the same time to display those lines found in “Find in files” but not found in “Find in this finder” window. I hope this feature can be available very soon. Your consider is highly appreciated.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23121https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/23121Tue, 28 Mar 2017 02:45:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 21 Mar 2017 18:00:27 GMT]]>I am getting this same issue as @terablade2001 .

The “Lock (no drag and drop)” option in Preferences doesn’t seem to effect the status of the locked tab bar, regardless of its setting. It is always locked.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22903https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22903Tue, 21 Mar 2017 18:00:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 21 Mar 2017 07:11:21 GMT]]>@yarumoSan The CIA has a workaround for AV and Anti-Malware as well. I’d recommend taking a look into what Vault 7 holds. It’s even re-sparked the Hastings killing.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22880https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22880Tue, 21 Mar 2017 07:11:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Mon, 20 Mar 2017 20:42:48 GMT]]>@Lucas-Fowler Try to follow the suggestion that I wrote in this page, if I’m not in error, is the problem that I solved in my system. Also others have solved with the same method. I noticed this problem on Windows 10 migrated to Anniversary Edition only.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22869https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22869Mon, 20 Mar 2017 20:42:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Mon, 20 Mar 2017 20:22:07 GMT]]>I installed NPP, and can run it fine. However, I used the method to replace the Windows 10 built in Notepad by deleting the 3 copies, and copying the NPP .exe into the folders. And when I try to launch it through the Start menu, or by double clicking in one of the system folders, I get a message with the window titled “Certificate checking” and the message says “Check certificate of C:\Windows\System32\SciLexer.dll : Cannot find the requested object.”

After clicking ok on that box, another dialogue box titled “Exception On WM_CREATE” says “ScintillaEditView::init : SCINTILLA ERROR - Can not load the dynamic library”

I don’t think this will be a showstopper for me, but it might be a bit of a pain, until it’s resolved.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22867https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22867Mon, 20 Mar 2017 20:22:07 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Sun, 19 Mar 2017 18:18:58 GMT]]>@terablade2001 If you want to test PR#3075, GitHub’s AppVeyor integration does automated builds. The binaries are here x86 and x64. You only need the notepad++ binary file (not SciLexer) and then launch it from the notepad++ folder.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22845https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22845Sun, 19 Mar 2017 18:18:58 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Sun, 19 Mar 2017 17:58:41 GMT]]>@terablade2001 There is a fix available, but it’s waiting to be reviewed. See PR#3023 (moved to PR#3075).

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22844https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22844Sun, 19 Mar 2017 17:58:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Sun, 19 Mar 2017 14:24:30 GMT]]>Today I updated notepad++ to v7.3.3 and I have the problem that file-tabs are always locked! I can’t change anymore the file-tabs’ position when I’m using multi-line tabs. From Settings > Preferences > General > Tab Bar , there is an option “Lock (no drag and drop)” but it seems not to working (either I check it or not, stil I can’t change the order of file-tabs with drag and drop) when multi-line is selected.

In this new update, the no 5. is saying: “Improve multi-line tab: maintaining the selected tab position.”, but I think that this was implemented as “disable tabs order changing with drag and drop in multi-line tab”.

This means that we lost the option to lock or not the tabs according to our preference (this is a negative for me, because I use multi-line tabs and need to rearrange the tabs to specific positions!).

I agree that when we select a tab, it should not change position in multi-line tab mode, but we should be able to re-order their position if we need to!

Please check it, and fix it if it’s just a bug.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22837https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22837Sun, 19 Mar 2017 14:24:30 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 23:46:59 GMT]]>@donho See https://github.com/npp-plugins/converter/blob/master/vc.proj/NppPluginConverter.vcxproj#L50, for x64 builds not v120_xp is used, but just v120, so for that plugin the x64 version probably has a problem on older machines.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22710https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22710Tue, 14 Mar 2017 23:46:59 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 19:18:05 GMT]]>@chicharones

The offenders were mimeTools.dll and NppConverter.dll. The machine has been running notepad++ a very long time, so they probably were installed years ago by now.

Thank you for the info. What’s the version of notepad++ before the updating of v7.3.3 ?

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22699https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22699Tue, 14 Mar 2017 19:18:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 18:25:17 GMT]]>@mkupper

Thank you for the advice. I disabled all the plugins on the Win 2003 machine and added them back in one by one.

The offenders were mimeTools.dll and NppConverter.dll. The machine has been running notepad++ a very long time, so they probably were installed years ago by now.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22697https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22697Tue, 14 Mar 2017 18:25:17 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 14:54:16 GMT]]>@donho said:

It’s not the expacted behaviour in Notepad++.
I just tested under my v7.3.3, each question (dialog) comes with the file in question revealed.
Have you try to remove all plugins to make sure it’s not a plugin issue?

Very probable, I reproduced the problem using a 32-bit full version and a 32-bit minimalist, on a 64-bit Win 10 (some days ago, I have noticed the mentioned problem on a 64-bit Win 7, where I want execute the same test). Thanks to this test I noticed that the problem occurs using the full version only. For the full version, I had executed a default installation, I had only selected the italian language. I think this is not useful but, during the test, I executed the minimalist version (ok) from the zip package (by WinRAR) on a OS where is installed the full version (not ok). Have you any suggestion? thanks.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22690https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22690Tue, 14 Mar 2017 14:54:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 14:12:56 GMT]]>@StarBeat-HD
I thought it was an application issue, so, I have made related operations like

  • installation and deep uninstallation of both versions
  • elimination of all references “notepad++” from the registry
  • elimination of all references from the %systemdrive%
    Therefore, not having solved, I tried to repair the system
  • Malware / Spyware check
  • sfc /scannow (for my OS was unuseful but is not a bad idea)
  • reinstallation of the runtimes only (my OS is always updated and all the .Net are ok, because are continously used by the applications, so, I haven’t checked them)
    But I solved with the repair of the permissions, I used “Windows Repair Free” made by “Tweaking.com”. I only selected the first 4 “repairs” but, for other cases, is possible that are needed also some other repairs. Good work and good luck…
]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22688https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22688Tue, 14 Mar 2017 14:12:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 13:21:01 GMT]]>@GlacialManYT said:

After the answer, according to me, should be selected the tab of the last opened file (or in phase of opening). Obviously, if I have modified or deleted some files, the questions are one for each file and, at the end of the answers, as said, should be selected the tab of the last opened file (or in phase of opening). That’s all, not so important but useful.

It’s not the expacted behaviour in Notepad++.
I just tested under my v7.3.3, each question (dialog) comes with the file in question revealed.
Have you try to remove all plugins to make sure it’s not a plugin issue?

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22685https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22685Tue, 14 Mar 2017 13:21:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 13:12:29 GMT]]>@AngryGamer said:

@donho Can you review PR#3023? I’d like to know if further changes are necessary before I move onto other stuff.

I’ll check this evening (Paris time).

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22682https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22682Tue, 14 Mar 2017 13:12:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to v7.3.3 - Fix CIA Hacking Notepad++ issue on Tue, 14 Mar 2017 11:29:18 GMT]]>@donho Can you review PR#3023? I’d like to know if further changes are necessary before I move onto other stuff.

]]>https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22680https://community.notepad-plus-plus.org/post/22680Tue, 14 Mar 2017 11:29:18 GMT