Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (NOT1770169941)
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Rankiteo Score Impact Analysis
Key Highlights From The Incident Analysis
- Timeline of Notepad++'s Cyber Attack and lateral movement inside company's environment.
- Overview of affected data sets, including SSNs and PHI, and why they materially increase incident severity.
- How Rankiteo’s incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score.
- How this cyber incident impacts Notepad++ Rankiteo cyber scoring and cyber rating.
- Rankiteo’s MITRE ATT&CK correlation analysis for this incident, with associated confidence level.
Full Incident Analysis Transcript
In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Notepad++ breach identified under incident ID NOT1770169941.
The analysis begins with a detailed overview of Notepad++'s information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/notepad-plus-plus, the number of followers: 1768, the industry type: Software Development and the number of employees: 8 employees
After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 727 and after the incident was 705 with a difference of -22 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.
In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on Notepad++ and their customers.
Notepad++ recently reported "Sophisticated Supply Chain Attack Targets Notepad++ Users in Espionage Campaign", a noteworthy cybersecurity incident.
Researchers identified a highly advanced supply chain attack targeting users of the popular text editor Notepad++, attributed to Lotus Blossom, a Chinese advanced persistent threat (APT) group.
The disruption is felt across the environment, affecting Notepad++ users' systems and Compromised distribution servers, and exposing Potential data exfiltration (Chrysalis backdoor capabilities).
Formal response steps have not been shared publicly yet.
The case underscores how Ongoing, and recommending next steps like Monitor for suspicious activity related to Notepad++ updates, Check for hidden executables in %AppData%\Bluetooth and Inspect NtQuerySystemInformation calls for SystemCodeFlowTransition parameter abuse.
Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.
MITRE ATT&CK® Correlation Analysis
Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Supply Chain Compromise: Compromise Software Supply Chain (T1195.002) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including compromise of Notepad++’s distribution infrastructure, and malicious update.exe delivered via GUP.exe. Under the Execution tactic, the analysis identified User Execution: Malicious File (T1204.002) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including execution of notepad++.exe and GUP.exe, and malicious update.exe (NSIS installer) deployed, Hijack Execution Flow: DLL Side-Loading (T1574.002) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including dLL sideloading via renamed Bitdefender Submission Wizard, and log.dll executed via sideloading, and Native API (T1106) with moderate to high confidence (85%), supported by evidence indicating ntQuerySystemInformation abuse (SystemCodeFlowTransition parameter). Under the Persistence tactic, the analysis identified Create or Modify System Process: Windows Service (T1543.003) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating persistence achieved via Windows service and Boot or Logon Autostart Execution: Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder (T1547.001) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating registry modifications for persistence. Under the Privilege Escalation tactic, the analysis identified Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068) with moderate to high confidence (75%), supported by evidence indicating exploitation of undocumented Warbird framework and Hijack Execution Flow: DLL Side-Loading (T1574.002) with high confidence (90%), supported by evidence indicating dLL sideloading via Bitdefender Submission Wizard. Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Obfuscated Files or Information (T1027) with high confidence (95%), with evidence including custom cryptographic algorithms (LCG, FNV-1a, MurmurHash), and rolling XOR decryption in Cobalt Strike loader, Masquerading: Match Legitimate Name or Location (T1036.005) with high confidence (90%), with evidence including renamed Bitdefender Submission Wizard, and mimics Deepseek API traffic, Deobfuscate/Decode Files or Information (T1140) with high confidence (90%), supported by evidence indicating chrysalis backdoor decrypted using custom algorithms, Hide Artifacts: Hidden Files and Directories (T1564.001) with moderate to high confidence (85%), supported by evidence indicating hidden %AppData%\Bluetooth directory for payloads, and Indicator Removal: Clear Windows Event Logs (T1070.001) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating chrysalis backdoor includes self-removal capability. Under the Discovery tactic, the analysis identified File and Directory Discovery (T1083) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating chrysalis backdoor supports drive enumeration (command *4_*) and System Information Discovery (T1082) with moderate to high confidence (75%), supported by evidence indicating ntQuerySystemInformation abuse for system info. Under the Command and Control tactic, the analysis identified Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols (T1071.001) with high confidence (95%), supported by evidence indicating c2 at api.skycloudcenter.com mimics Deepseek API traffic, Ingress Tool Transfer (T1105) with high confidence (90%), supported by evidence indicating cobalt Strike beacons downloaded from api.wiresguard.com, and Data Obfuscation: Protocol Impersonation (T1001.003) with moderate to high confidence (85%), supported by evidence indicating c2 traffic mimics standard browser user agent. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (T1041) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating chrysalis backdoor supports file transfer protocols (*4c, 4d*). Under the Collection tactic, the analysis identified Data from Local System (T1005) with moderate to high confidence (85%), supported by evidence indicating chrysalis backdoor supports file operations (*4Y, 4W, 4X*). These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.
Sources & References
- Notepad++ Rankiteo Cyber Incident Details: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/notepad-plus-plus/incident/NOT1770169941
- Notepad++ CyberSecurity Rating page: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/notepad-plus-plus
- Notepad++ Rankiteo Cyber Incident Blog Article: https://blog.rankiteo.com/not1770169941-notepad-cyber-attack-february-2026/
- Notepad++ CyberSecurity Score History: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/notepad-plus-plus/history
- Notepad++ CyberSecurity Incident Source: https://cyberpress.org/notepad-supply-chain-hack-exposed/
- Rankiteo A.I CyberSecurity Rating methodology: https://www.rankiteo.com/Images/rankiteo_algo.pdf
- Rankiteo TPRM Scoring methodology: https://static.rankiteo.com/model/rankiteo_tprm_methodology.pdf