Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Microsoft killed WordPad, and then put a bunch of its stuff in Notepad. And now Notepad is complex enough to…infect your PC with malware. Hooray!
NotePad for Windows has gotten tons of new features over the last couple of years, including AI writing via Copilot, which kind of betrays the whole concept of a barebones text editor. The relevant one here is that it supports Markdown formatting. If you open a Markdown file in Notepad and follow a link, it can download and execute a program with the same permissions as the user. That's known as remote code execution or RCE, and it's a bit of a security no-no.
The security update to patch this issue in Notepad is forthcoming as of mid-February 2026. In the meantime, and as always, be careful not to download files from any site or person you don't trust. For more security news, keep an eye on PCWorld.
pcworld.com/article/3058647/windows-notepad-is-now-complex-enough-to-have-a-serious-security-flaw.html
Check out more PC coverage on @thefullnerdnetwork
=============
Read PCWorld!
Website: pcworld.com
Newsletters: pcworld.com/newsletters/signup
=============
This video is NOT sponsored. Some links may contain affiliate links, which means if you buy something PCWorld may receive a small commission.
Microsoft killed WordPad, and then put a bunch of its stuff in Notepad. And now Notepad is complex enough to…infect your PC with malware. Hooray!
NotePad for Windows has gotten tons of new features over the last couple of years, including AI writing via Copilot, which kind of betrays the whole concept of a barebones text editor. The relevant one here is that it supports Markdown formatting. If you open a Markdown file in Notepad and follow a link, it can download and execute a program with the same permissions as the user. That's known as remote code execution or RCE, and it's a bit of a security no-no.
The security update to patch this issue in Notepad is forthcoming as of mid-February 2026. In the meantime, and as always, be careful not to download files from any site or person you don't trust. For more security news, keep an eye on PCWorld.
pcworld.com/article/3058647/windows-notepad-is-now-complex-enough-to-have-a-serious-security-flaw.html
Check out more PC coverage on @thefullnerdnetwork
=============
Read PCWorld!
Website: pcworld.com
Newsletters: pcworld.com/newsletters/signup
=============
This video is NOT sponsored. Some links may contain affiliate links, which means if you buy something PCWorld may receive a small commission.
