CVE-2026-42090 PUBLISHED

Notesnook: RCE via stored XSS in note export rendering

Assigner: GitHub_M
Reserved: 23.04.2026 Published: 04.05.2026 Updated: 05.05.2026

Notesnook is a note-taking app focused on user privacy & ease of use. Prior to Notesnook Web/Desktop version 3.3.15 and prior to Notesnook iOS/Android version 3.3.20, a stored XSS vulnerability in the note export flow can be escalated to remote code execution in the desktop app. The root cause is that exported note fields such as title, headline, and content are inserted into the generated HTML template without HTML escaping. When the note is later exported to PDF, Notesnook renders that HTML into a same-origin, unsandboxed iframe using iframe.srcdoc = .... Injected script executes in the Notesnook origin. In the desktop app, this becomes RCE because Electron is configured with nodeIntegration: true and contextIsolation: false. This issue has been patched in Notesnook Web/Desktop version 3.3.15 and Notesnook iOS/Android version 3.3.20.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS Score: 9.6

Product Status

Vendor streetwriters
Product notesnook
Versions
  • Version Notesnook Web/Desktop < 3.3.15 is affected
  • Version Notesnook iOS/Android < 3.3.20 is affected

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') CWE
  • CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') CWE