AI code completion tools may introduce security vulnerabilities through insecure suggestions
By
Seth Michael Larson
Summary
The article discusses the potential security vulnerabilities introduced by AI-powered code completion tools, specifically PyCharm's "Full Line Completion" plugin. The author tests the feature and finds that the model can suggest insecure code patterns, such as using outdated or vulnerable library versions (e.g., urllib3 1.x instead of 2.x). The article raises concerns about developers blindly accepting AI-generated code suggestions without proper security review, potentially introducing vulnerabilities into codebases.
Source
Key quotes
· 2 pulledI decide to test this functionality. I started by writing import urllib3, created a new line, and then typed u and received a suggested completion for the line marked below with a dashed border.
Three months ago I saw that PyCharm shipped with a 'Full Line Completion' plugin that 'uses a local deep learning model to suggest entire lines of code'.
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