--- title: Hackers abuse Notepad++ plugins to stealthily install... description: Ukraine's CERT-UA has uncovered a malware campaign by threat actor UAC-0099 (linked to APT44/Sandworm) that abuses Notepad++ plugin loading to deliver malware.... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/hackers-abuse-notepad-plugins-to-stealthily-install-malware-qqzgtilfh twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Hackers abuse Notepad++ plugins to stealthily install malware | daily.dev og:description: Ukraine's CERT-UA has uncovered a malware campaign by threat actor UAC-0099 (linked to APT44/Sandworm) that abuses Notepad++ plugin loading to deliver malware.... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/hackers-abuse-notepad-plugins-to-stealthily-install-malware-qqzgtilfh og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/QqZgtIlfH.png og:image:alt: Hackers abuse Notepad++ plugins to stealthily install malware og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Hackers abuse Notepad++ plugins to stealthily install malware **[BleepingComputer](https://daily.dev/sources/bleepingcomputer)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Ukraine's CERT-UA has uncovered a malware campaign by threat actor UAC-0099 (linked to APT44/Sandworm) that abuses Notepad++ plugin loading to deliver malware. Attackers distribute a ZIP archive containing a VBS script disguised as a PDF, which downloads a second archive bundling a legitimate copy of Notepad++ v8.8.3 alongside a malicious DLL (LunchPoke) disguised as a plugin. The DLL creates scheduled tasks, extracts additional payloads including the BurnyBear loader and MatchBoil V2 malware loader, and establishes persistence. The attack exploits Notepad++'s normal plugin-loading mechanism rather than a traditional vulnerability, though CVE-2025-56383 (a disputed DLL hijacking flaw) is referenced. CERT-UA recommends updating Notepad++ to v8.9.7, 7-Zip to v26.02, and WinRAR to v7.23. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Notepad\+\+ declares new update process 'unexploitable'](https://daily.dev/posts/notepad-declares-new-update-process-unexploitable--zjrjkirkg) · The Register · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#malware](https://daily.dev/tags/malware) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/hackers-abuse-notepad-plugins-to-stealthily-install-malware-qqzgtilfh) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Hackers abuse Notepad++ plugins to stealthily install malware","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/hackers-abuse-notepad-plugins-to-stealthily-install-malware-qqzgtilfh","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/hackers-abuse-notepad-plugins-to-stealthily-install-malware-qqzgtilfh"},"datePublished":"2026-07-23T16:35:04.317Z","dateModified":"2026-07-23T17:23:59.220Z","description":"Ukraine's CERT-UA has uncovered a malware campaign by threat actor UAC-0099 (linked to APT44/Sandworm) that abuses Notepad++ plugin loading to deliver malware....","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/caa3725bcef0cb928882bfc181c1dc03?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/caa3725bcef0cb928882bfc181c1dc03?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"BleepingComputer","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"BleepingComputer","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--as8nJ3qy--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774959951/logos/bleepingcomputer?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/bleepingcomputer"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/hackers-abuse-notepad-plugins-to-stealthily-install-malware-qqzgtilfh","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"malware","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BleepingComputer","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/bleepingcomputer"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Hackers abuse Notepad++ plugins to stealthily install malware"}]} ```