This release addresses a security vulnerability. If you are running any earlier version of Greenshot 1.3, please update as soon as possible.
We have fixed a security issue tracked as GHSA-f8v9-7fph-fr2j. A huge thank you to @MarioRL0 for responsibly disclosing this vulnerability with a thorough, well-analyzed report. Responsible disclosure like this helps keep Greenshot safe for everyone.
All technical details can be found in the security advisory. Less technical summary: when you double-click Greenshot’s tray icon, Greenshot opens the folder containing your most recent screenshot by starting Windows Explorer. In affected versions, this was done by launching "explorer.exe" without an absolute path.
On Windows, starting a program by name (instead of e.g. C:\Windows\explorer.exe) can cause Windows to search for that program in multiple locations. If an attacker is able to place a malicious explorer.exe in a location that Windows checks before the real Windows one, Greenshot could accidentally start the attacker’s program instead. That attacker-controlled program could then run code in your user context (and even start the real Explorer afterwards, so things still “look normal”).
Alongside the security fix, we have backported several bug fixes from the 1.4 development branch that address real-world issues reported by our users:
We have also improved the installer to prevent issues caused by leftover files from older versions of Greenshot. The installer now automatically removes outdated 1.2 and 1.3 plugin files before placing the new ones — so you get a clean, consistent installation every time. Only plugins originally provided by Greenshot are affected by this cleanup.
Greenshot 1.3.315 is the final planned stable release of the 1.3 series. Our development focus has moved to the 1.4 series, which is currently in active development on the main branch. The 1.4 series brings exciting new capabilities including emoji support in the editor, OCR-based text redaction, and a new high-quality capture engine powered by the Windows Graphics Capture API.
We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to, tested, and reported issues for the 1.3 series. Your feedback has made Greenshot better.
For a complete list of all changes in the 1.3 series — including technical details, issue references, and contributor credits — see the Greenshot 1.3 Changelog.
]]>Kudos to Github user @lihnucs, who has responsibly disclosed the problem to us with a very detailed and well-analyzed report. Thanks a lot 💚
All technical details can be found in the security advisory security advisory GHSA-7hvw-q8q5-gpmj. Less technical summary: if you are using Greenshot’s External Command Plugin to call shell interpreters (like CMD or Powershell), an attacker could execute custom commands by fiddling with Greenshot’s configuration file on your PC, or by making you open a file with a manipulated filename.
Stay safe, and remember: always get Greenshot from getgreenshot.org
]]>Kudos to Github user @RipFran, who has responsibly disclosed the problem to us with a very detailed and well-analyzed report, and also helped with re-testing after we implemented a fix. Thanks so much 💚
All technical details can be found in the security advisory GHSA-8f7f-x7ww-xx5.
Less technical summary: if a malicious process is already running on your computer, it could send a crafted message to the Greenshot process, making it execute functionality under Greenshot’s name.
This vulnerability could be leveraged by an attacker to by-pass security measures that could, for example, block the creation of new processes by untrusted processes.
Stay safe, and remember: always get Greenshot from getgreenshot.org
]]>Update 2025-07-17: we have published a bug fix release (v1.3.202) which fixes some problems when running the installer as administrator.
We’re excited to announce the release of Greenshot v1.3.290 (Final Release) – a significant step forward for one of the most popular open-source screenshot tools for Windows. This version introduces new features, UI improvements, and important bug fixes that refine the overall user experience.
Greenshot 1.2.10 and below allowed arbitrary code execution because .NET content is insecurely deserialized when a .greenshot file is opened. This long awaited fix has already been provided in unstable versions and now found it’s way into the final release of version 1.3.
One of the most requested features is finally here:
✅ Zoom functionality in the editor – Easily zoom in and out using CTRL + mouse wheel, allowing for better precision when editing screenshots.
This release also tackles several issues that have affected usability and stability:
Greenshot v1.3.290 RC1 is a robust, more polished version that lays the groundwork for future development. Whether you’re a power user or a casual screenshot taker, this release offers more control, sharper performance, and cleaner usability.
Here is the full list of changes since the latest Greenshot 1.2 version
Head over to our version history page to download Greenshot 1.3.290 RC1.
A huge thank you to all our contributors and users for your ongoing support. We couldn’t do this without you!
Stay tuned for the final release, and happy screenshotting!
Here is the full list of changes since the latest Greenshot 1.2 version
Finally, we are able to create signed releases again 🎉 it took quite some time and effort, and we have learned that code signing for Windows is much more complicated than it was just a few years ago. This step is crucial in our mission, and the basis for the next steps to come.
For starters, we have recently released a signed installer of a recent unstable version (1.3.281), you can find it on our version history page. If the missing signing was the only reason for you not to switch to one of the unstable versions, you can now go ahead and grab it. Please note that this is still an unstable release, which means it hasn’t been thoroughly tested and might include unexpected behavior. Also note that (automated) continuous builds are not signed.
Our top priority is to publish a final (stable) version of Greenshot 1.3 as soon as possible, for future versions we are aiming for smaller releases and shorter release cycles. For the 1.3 release, this means:
Stay tuned 😎
]]>You haven’t heard from us for a long time, so it’s high time we gave you an update.
tl;dr: We are struggling with a lack of time, but are gradually trying to pick up speed again.
You may have noticed that the activity in this project has decreased a lot recently: the last release was a while ago, tickets remain unanswered for a long time, etc. Occasionally people have asked whether the project has been abandoned or whether (and when) a new release is coming.
You probably know that this project is run by a few people entirely in their spare time, that’s the little time we have left beneath our full-time jobs, families, homes, etc. At the moment, our capacities are more limited than ever before. Of course, this is clearly noticeable in our communication with you, and our internal communication is also affected by this, which slows some things down even more.
In addition, we are currently not in a position to publish signed releases. This is due to organizational issues that we need to clarify. Our goal is to get all the issues sorted out bit by bit so that we can hopefully provide a stable release again soon.
For everyone who can’t wait: there are also unstable releases available. „Unstable“ means that the releases are not signed (Windows probably displays a warning before installation - make sure to always get Greenshot from getgreenshot.org). „Unstable“ also means that the releases have not been thoroughly tested, so unexpected behavior can occur. But „unstable“ also means that the release contains bleeding edge features, and some quite interesting things have been developed since the last stable release.
So, please bear with us. We’re doing our best to get everything running again, but it will take some time.
]]>we hope you’re doing well during the corona crisis and you all stay healthy!
While many of you are working from home at the moment we noticed an increase of downloads escpacially of the mac version of Greenshot and so we finally managed to put out a new release of Greenshot. It mainly fixes some issues with Catalina.
As you might have noticed, Catalina introduced some major changes regarding security and so every app requiring screen recording needs permission by the user. When you started Greenshot on Catalina for the first time, you got a popup window telling you so, but you might have ignored it (don’t we all do this?). If so, all your screenshots will only have your desktop background image and nothing else. To fix this, go to “System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy -> Screen Recording” and activate Greenshot.
We are very sorry for not being able to release for such a long time but we all really had so much going on in our private lives that it just wasn’t manageable for us. I hope, this is going to change in the near future. Anyway, we are still very excited about developing Greenshot and have great plans for the future to keep Greenshot a big part of the productivity ecosystem.
Have fun, stay safe and wash your hands! ;-)
]]>TL;DR: always get greenshot from getgreenshot.org
Recently we have been contacted by a user who reported that he got a malware warning on an installer that he had downloaded from what he thought was our website. It did not take us long to sort out what the actual problem was: he had openend a browser, typed “greenshot” and appended a top-level-domain that is commonly being used for free and open source software, assuming that this URL would bring him to Greenshot’s official website. The site does not look very professional, but it clearly describes Greenshot’s features and has prominent download buttons for Windows and Mac. So what could possibly go wrong?
Well, unfortunatey that domain is not (and has never been) under our control. In fact, the domain had already been registered when Greenshot’s website was still living on a subdomain on sourceforge.net, ages ago. When we first noticed it, the page could have been (euphemistically) classified as fan page. It offered some information and screenshots of our software, had download links to our binaries on Sourceforge, and had multiple advertisements, particularly but not exclusively for an well-known commercial screenshot tool. Questionable, but tolerable. Obviously not profitable, though. So at some point they have started serving modified binaries, presumably installing unwanted toolbars in the user’s browser.
According to the privacy policy, the website is operated by a French company called “Data Access Sarl”, while the responsible editor of the content is “In Profit Limited” from Hong Kong. A short research on the web revealed that this pair is running dozens of similar websites for other well-known open-source projects, including 7-Zip, KeePass, Paint.NET, Gimp, Inkscape and many others. We probably only saw the tip of the iceberg, but the vast amount of registered domains named after open-source projects is a clear sign that deliberatly misleading users is merely a business case for them.
Honestly, we don’t know. We are software engineers, not lawyers. You probably know that Greenshot is (and has always been) developed by few guys in the little spare time they have beneath their full-time jobs and families, so we cannot afford both time and money to pursue this legally. If you can, feel free to get in touch with us.
Take care everybody, and remember: always get greenshot from getgreenshot.org :)
]]>Although we didn’t release any new versions of Greenshot for some time now, a lot has happened!
What most people don’t realize is that Greenshot in its current form would still work with .NET Framework 2.0, which is technology from 2002! With that in mind, you might understand that Greenshot desperately needs an overhaul! Not only we use old, maybe even obsolete, technologies but most parts of the program grew into something which is hard to maintain and it didn’t really invite other developers to assist us.
Last year I started updating Greenshot so it works on and uses the most recent version of the .NET Framework. Using current technologies help to reduce the amount of code, get fixes a lot quicker and have new features available. To make this all possible I created a couple of new open source projects and moved generic parts of Greenshot in there:
These projects help to build a base for any .NET Windows application, and allows us to quickly add new features and fix existing. After going through Greenshot with a vacuum cleaner and a high pressure washer it should now also be easier for new developers to get acquainted to Greenshot and quickly learn to add new functionality. As soon as things get stable, there will be some documentation about writing your own add-ons.
Although the dotnet core technology, version 1.0 saw the light in June 2016, is pretty much platform agnostic like Java, it has not been possible to use existing Windows UI technologies with it. In May 2018, while I was working hard on getting things working with the latest .NET Framework version, Microsoft presented an interesting announcement during Build 2018 which you can read about here or watch in the video here.
The announcement was just what I was waiting for! Microsoft demonstrated that with dotnet core 3.0 it will be possible to use the UI technologies that Greenshot is already using! Why is this so exiting? Although most reasons are explained in a second blog about dotnet core 3.0 which can be read here I will try to translate this for our users.
One of the challenges with Greenshot was picking the version of the .NET Framework to run on, actually we were way to conservative and this limited our possibilities. The problem with the .NET Framework is that there can be only one version installed on a Windows PC! So if we want to use the newest version, we force a lot of people to update and a lot of companies might not be able to do so without extensively testing their other applications. The Greenshot installer needed to start the .NET Framework installer if this wasn’t available, managing this added another complexity. With dotnet core this is a thing of the past, every application can provide their own version of dotnet core and multiple versions run side by side!
Although Greenshot is open source it currently needs the .NET Framework to run, but this isn’t open source! The .NET Foundation, which is an independent organization which supports many open source .NET projects, is also taking good care of dotnet core. As soon as Greenshot is released for dotnet core, the complete stack is running with open source technologies!
Edit: On the 4th of December, “coincidentally” only hours after my blog post was made available, Microsoft announced on the Microsoft Connect(); 2018 event the following: NET Core 3 Preview 1 and Open Sourcing Windows Desktop Frameworks. This shows that Microsoft is really serious about its open source commitment, and that going towards dotnet core is the right thing to do for Greenshot! With this announcement the full stack of Greenshot on dotnet core, including the UI components, is build with open source technologies!
Another interesting fact is that the .NET Framework is used by billions of applications, this makes it very hard to maintain backwards compatibility while adding new features or fixes. With dotnet core, which doesn’t have all the legacy applications, a different approach is possible. By releasing more often and not having the need to support years of backwards compatibility, it’s finally possible to introduce new features and maybe sometimes even make breaking changes. One thing where this shows is that dotnet core has many performance enhancements, which will also be noticeable in Greenshot.
After the first major steps towards a new Greenshot, which I described before, I had the wish “making Greenshot dotnet core compatible”. In May 2018 there wasn’t much information on the topic so I tried to reach out to Microsoft. In June 2018 I managed to get a contact interested in working together, and we decided to try to use Greenshot as an early adopter of dotnet core 3.0.
I had the great pleasure to talk to many fine Microsoft employees about how and what of the .NET Framework is used by Greenshot, and what challenges we face providing Greenshot to our users. We discussed many use cases, some of them are probably still being worked on. At the same time I started the first work of making all the non UI parts dotnet core or netstandard compatible. And then in September 2018 it finally happened, the first alpha/preview build of dotnet core 3.0 was available.
With this available I worked for the last 3 months to get the whole of Greenshot and the backing projects running with dotnet core 3.0, which while it being very early would have been quite hard, so I am really grateful for the support I got from my contacts. While it was a lot of work to make Greenshot dotnet core compatible, the UI part of the application actually was a case of “it just works”, which is really amazing! And when one or the other bug showed up, the turn around time for fixes are usually one or two days.
At the time I am writing this the current state is that Greenshot is running on .NET Framework 4.7.1 and dotnet core 3.0 side by side! Having things work side by side is very convenient, we can stay on the “stable” .NET Framework and release from there, but as soon as dotnet core 3.0 is available for the general audience we can also release for this. I would say that the dotnet core implementation has around 95% of the functionality which .NET Framework has, and the only reason for this is time. There are currently no show stoppers why the dotnet core 3.0 version of Greenshot would have less functionality, in fact I expect that it will be the other way around.
I expect that the first release candidate of dotnet core 3.0 is available before I finish all the open ends on Greenshot, but we might be able to start releasing alpha builds at the end of the first quarter of 2019. Around that time I will also write a blog post about the coming features, I still need to see what else is possible in this new world of dotnet core, and give a bit more information on the release timeline.
P.S. I again want to thank the people at Microsoft who supported me and Greenshot. Thank you Rich, Daniel and all your colleagues, especially for staying professional while handling my annoying questions. I hope to be able to work with you again in the near future!
What is left for now: we wish all our users happy times and enjoy the coming holidays!
Robin and the rest of the Greenshot team!