How severe is CVE-2026-20841?

CVE-2026-20841 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH). EPSS estimates a 12.7% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

CVE-2026-20841: Windows Notepad App Remote Code Execution

Description

Improper neutralization of special elements used in a command ('command injection') in Windows Notepad App allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally.

Severity

CVSS 3.1 · CNA7.8 HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

SSVC · CISA-ADP

Exploitationnone

Automatableno

Technical impacttotal

Affected Products

Vendor	Product	Affected versions
Microsoft	Windows Notepad	11.0.0 to <11.2512.26.0

References

2 Links

Vendor advisories

Windows Notepad App Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Other references

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46971516

Record Details

Published

2026-02-10

Last updated

2026-08-19

Assigner (CNA)

microsoft

Credited to

More from Microsoft

CVE-2019-07089.8

Microsoft Remote Desktop Services Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CVE-2021-344739.1

Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CVE-2025-537709.8

Microsoft SharePoint Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CVE-2021-268559.1

Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Related Tool Categories

Tool categories that test for or protect against this vulnerability class.

CWE-77 · Command Injection

Application Security Tools Penetration Testing Tools

CVE record data © The MITRE Corporation, used under the CVE Terms of Use. Exploited-in-the-wild data from the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (CC0). Exploit prediction scores by FIRST EPSS (first.org/epss). This site is not endorsed or certified by MITRE, NVD, CISA, or FIRST.