Notepad++ up to 7.6 Scintilla SciLexer.dll Unicode Character input validation

HistoryDiffrelatejsonxmlCTI

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
6.9	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Notepad++ up to 7.6. Affected by this issue is some unknown functionality in the library SciLexer.dll of the component Scintilla. The manipulation as part of Unicode Character leads to input validation. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2019-16294. The attack can be initiated remotely. Additionally, an exploit exists. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Notepad++ up to 7.6 (Document Reader Software) and classified as critical. This issue affects some unknown processing in the library SciLexer.dll of the component Scintilla. The manipulation as part of a Unicode Character leads to a input validation vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-20. The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

SciLexer.dll in Scintilla in Notepad++ (x64) before 7.7 allows remote code execution or denial of service via Unicode characters in a crafted .ml file.

The weakness was released 09/14/2019. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2019-16294 since 09/13/2019. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Technical details as well as a public exploit are known.

The exploit is available at exploit-db.com. It is declared as proof-of-concept.

Upgrading to version 7.7 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Exploit-DB (47393). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Document Reader Software

Name

Notepad++

Version

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 7.0
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.7

VulDB Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Temp Score: 5.7
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 7.8
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

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Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Input validation
CWE: CWE-20
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: Partially
Local: Yes
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Access: Public
Status: Proof-of-Concept
Download: 🔍

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
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Exploit-DB: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: Notepad++ 7.7

Timelineinfo

09/13/2019 🔍
09/14/2019 +1 days 🔍
09/15/2019 +1 days 🔍
11/14/2025 +2252 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Advisory: 154706
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2019-16294 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2019-16294
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-141791
scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20161013

Entryinfo

Created: 09/15/2019 08:22
Updated: 11/14/2025 02:12
Changes: 09/15/2019 08:22 (38), 08/24/2020 21:12 (18), 12/25/2023 08:49 (5), 11/14/2025 02:12 (24)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103