CVE-2026-42090 CRITICAL

CVE-2026-42090: Notesnook: RCE via stored XSS in note export rendering

Vendor Streetwriters
Product notesnook
Weakness CWE-79 · XSS
Published May 4, 2026
Last update May 5, 2026

CVSS base score

9.6/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction Required
Confidentiality High
Integrity High

CVSS vector

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

What the vulnerability does

01Description

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.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

May 4, 2026 CVE published
May 5, 2026 Record updated