Bugs discovered in VSCode Extensions Could Lead to Supply Chain Attacks

Intense security flaws uncovered in well-liked Visible Studio Code extensions could permit attackers to compromise nearby equipment as effectively as establish and deployment systems by a developer’s integrated growth surroundings (IDE).

VS Code extensions, like browser add-ons, allow developers to augment Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code source-code editor with additional features like programming languages and debuggers relevant to their development workflows. VS Code is used by 14 million active users, making it a huge attack surface. The attack scenarios devised by Snyk bank on the possibility that the installed extensions could be abused as a vector for supply chain attacks by exploiting weaknesses in the plugins to break into a developer system effectively. To that effect, the researchers examined VS Code extensions that had vulnerable implementations of local web servers.

As a proof-of-concept (PoC) demonstration, the researchers showed it was possible to exploit this flaw to steal SSH keys from a developer who is running VS Code and has Instant Markdown or Open in Default Browser installed in the IDE. LaTeX Workshop, on the other hand, was found susceptible to a command injection vulnerability due to unsanitized input that could be exploited to run malicious payloads.

Lastly, an extension named Rainbow Fart was ascertained to have a zip slip vulnerability, which allows an adversary to overwrite arbitrary files on a victim’s machine and gain remote code execution. In an attack formulated by the researchers, a specially-crafted ZIP file was sent over an “import-voice-package” endpoint used by the plugin and written to a location that’s outside of the working directory of the extension.

“This attack could be used to overwrite files like ‘.bashrc’ and gain remote code execution eventually,” the researchers noted.

Recommendations:

1. Do not trust blindly on any third party written code pieces.
2. Developers should be aware of the extensions or plugins they are integrating in their IDE.
3. Regularly update the extensions, plugins with the latest security patches released.