CVE-2026-2538

Exploitation

Public exploit code exists. CISA's assessment records a public proof of concept. That is not a report of exploitation in the wild.

SSVC decision

• ExploitationpocPublic proof-of-concept exploit code exists. Not a report of exploitation in the wild.
• AutomatablenoAt least one step from reconnaissance to exploitation cannot be reliably automated.
• Technical ImpacttotalSuccessful exploitation gives total control of the vulnerable component.

CISA publishes the decision points, not a final SSVC decision. The decision also depends on mission and well-being impact, which is a property of your deployment rather than of the vulnerability.

EPSS probability

0.16% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.

EPSS percentile

Ranks above 5.4% of scored records. A rank, not a probability.

NVD base score

7.3 (CVSS v4.0), scored by the NVD independently of the CNA.

NVD CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

NVD analysis status

Deferred. NVD last modified this record on 2026-06-17.

Red Hat severity

No Red Hat rating. Red Hat rates the CVEs that affect its products.

Exploit-prediction scores from FIRST. Independent scoring and analysis status from the NVD. Vendor severity from Red Hat. Exploitation assessment and catalog membership from CISA.

Published

2026-02-16 06:02Z6 MO AGO

Last updated

2026-02-23 10:06Z6 MO AGO

Reserved

2026-02-15

Assigning CNA

VulDB

Record state

PUBLISHED

Severity

High (CVSS 7.3)

CNA CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X

Weaknesses

• CWE-426Untrusted Search PathBase
• CWE-427Uncontrolled Search Path ElementBase

Data version

5.2

Document digest

9de6430c803584bd44b8a2342aa510667f17e8777054b5c011e163a8a22b5f36

• vuldb.comVDB-346126 | Flos Freeware Notepad2 Msimg32.dll uncontrolled search pathhttps://vuldb.com/?id.346126vdb-entry
• vuldb.comVDB-346126 | CTI Indicators (IOB, IOC, TTP, IOA)https://vuldb.com/?ctiid.346126signaturepermissions-required
• vuldb.comSubmit #749345 | flo's freeware Notepad2 4.2.25 DLL Hijackinghttps://vuldb.com/?submit.749345third-party-advisory
• github.comhttps://github.com/Cyber-Wo0dy/report/blob/main/notepad2/4.2.25/notepad2_dll_hijacking.mdrelated