Notepad++ release 8.9.6.1

Reply to Notepad++ release 8.9.6.1 on Tue, 26 May 2026 17:02:25 GMT

fml2 — Tue, 26 May 2026 17:02:25 GMT

When installing the latest version (8.9.6.1) I get the following error which I’ve never seen before:

Does anybody have a clue about this?

Reply to Notepad++ release 8.9.6.1 on Tue, 26 May 2026 16:44:41 GMT

donho — Tue, 26 May 2026 16:44:41 GMT

@PeterJones said:

:-(

How about an empty supressRunAlertDialog.xml besides of notepad++exe to suppress the warning dialog?

Reply to Notepad++ release 8.9.6.1 on Tue, 26 May 2026 16:26:09 GMT

donho — Tue, 26 May 2026 16:26:09 GMT

Note:
For fixing arbitrary code execution vulnerability via config.xml, “commandLineInterpreter” was removed, but “PowerShell here” command has been added, so I don’t think it’ll be an issue, though users who use “commandLineInterpreter” should be notified.
However, we might have some complains for fixing arbitrary code execution vulnerability via shortcuts.xml, due to the security warning, if the binary is not located under one of the fowing loctions:

C:\Program Files,
C:\Program Files (x86)
C:\Windows\System32
C:\Windows

Unfortunately, I haven’t yet found a way to store the definate “Never show the confirmation dialog” safely. Please let me know if anyone here has some ideas.

Reply to Notepad++ release 8.9.6.1 on Tue, 26 May 2026 16:13:25 GMT

PeterJones — Tue, 26 May 2026 16:13:25 GMT

From what I can tell, based on quick experiments, deriving implications to what @donho said and the commits that fix those CVE:

Fix arbitrary code execution vulnerability via config.xml

"C:\path\with spaces\to\cli.exe" in config.xml will no longer do anything
instead, there is a “open into PowerShell” alongside all the menus that have “open into cmd” (or similar phrasing for that command in the various menus and context menus)

Fix arbitrary code execution vulnerability via shortcuts.xml

Any shortcuts that start with http: will be flagged, and you will be prompted to confirm every time.
Any shortcuts that resolve to an executable location outside of the trusted locations (whether by relying on PATH, or by harcoding the path to the executable), will warn you every time you try to run that command. (Trusted locations include Program Files or Program Files (x86) or windows\system32 or windows\ directories).

:-(

I think the remediation to this one takes things too far. Not all compilers, interpreters, and helper programs live in the Program Files or Windows hiearchies (I personally have another location where I often install such things). And now you are going to ask me to confirm I want to run my external application every single time I try to run it, with no way to say “always allow” to that dialog. This will cause a major headache for anyone who, like me, intentionally runs things that don’t live in Program Files. That will not result in increased security: that will result in driving users away from Notepad++ if they can no longer use the automation features of the application.

For example, Strawberry Perl, the primary Perl interpreter installation for Windows, installs into c:\strawberry by default, and parts of its toolchain have problems if you install into a directory like c:\program files\ with spaces in the filename; there are lots of engineering tools I have used that have problems with spaces in the path as well; and since I also use the gcc that comes with Strawberry Perl, that means that both my Perl interpreter and my C/C++ compiler that I use from Notepad++ will ask me to confirm every time. I’m really not sure that’s a usable workflow for me. Am I not going to ever be able to upgrade beyond Notepad++ v8.9.6? If not, that will be unfortunate.