Malicious VS Code AI Extensions with 1.5M Installs Secretly Harvest Developer Codebases
By
tatersolid
Lightly toasted, lightly seasoned, mostly correct.
Summary
Two popular VS Code AI coding extensions with 1.5 million installs have been identified as malicious, secretly harvesting developers' entire codebases and profiling them while remaining active in the official marketplace. The extensions, which appear legitimate with thousands of reviews, gain access to workspaces, files, and keystrokes under the guise of providing AI coding assistance but instead exfiltrate sensitive code and developer data.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledWe install them without a second thought. They're in the official marketplace. They have thousands of reviews. They work. So we grant them access to our workspaces, our files, our keystrokes - and assume they're only using that access to help us code.
Not all of them are.
Our risk engine has identified two VS Code extensions, a campaign we'r
Two popular AI coding extensions with 1.5M installs secretly harvest your entire codebase and profile you. Both are still live in the marketplace.
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