CVE-2026-49450

Joplin desktop Windows auto-updater accepts signed installer from any publisher because app-update.yml has no publisherName

Published 21 Sep 2026 • Updated 21 Sep 2026

Severity: HIGH

Description

Joplin is an open source note-taking and to-do application that organises notes and lists into notebooks. Prior to 3.7.2, Joplin Desktop for Windows omits publisherName from packages/app-desktop/package.json, so the generated app-update.yml causes NsisUpdater.verifySignature() to skip comparison of a downloaded update's Authenticode signer with Joplin's signer. An attacker who controls the update delivery path can replace the update metadata and installer, and the client accepts an installer signed by another publisher or left unsigned after the user approves installation. Successful exploitation runs attacker-controlled code with the user's privileges and can compromise notes, credentials, and local data. This issue is fixed in version 3.7.2.

Affected products (1)

• laurent22 joplin

Problem types

• CWE-345: Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity
• CWE-353: Missing Support for Integrity Check
• CWE-494: Download of Code Without Integrity Check

References (3)

• https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/security/advisories/GHSA-9wp7-hr9m-3273
• https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/pull/15539
• https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/commit/853659edf575c4f526c2b196e0629462aee9df28