This article discusses the security risks associated with trust-based models in popular IDEs like VS Code and Cursor, highlighting vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious extensions. It introduces IDE-SHEPHERD, an open-source extension that monitors and blocks harmful operations in real-time, offering a more granular trust model and enhanced protections for developers.

Two harmful extensions on the Visual Studio Code Marketplace, Bitcoin Black and Codo AI, steal sensitive information from developers' machines. They can capture screenshots, credentials, and hijack browser sessions, and were published under the name 'BigBlack.' Microsoft has since removed both extensions from the marketplace.

AI-driven IDEs like Cursor and Google Antigravity recommend extensions that may not exist in the OpenVSX registry. This gap allows malicious actors to claim unregistered namespaces and potentially distribute malware. Researchers have reported the issue and taken steps to prevent exploitation.

A set of ten malicious VSCode extensions on the Microsoft Visual Studio Code Marketplace has been found to infect users with the XMRig cryptominer for Monero. These extensions masquerade as legitimate tools and execute a PowerShell script to install the malware while also disabling critical Windows security features. Microsoft has since removed the extensions and blocked the publisher from the marketplace.