Edit 2025-04-09 16:42Z - article was updated with a tenth package (Prettier - Code)
A set of ten VSCode extensions on Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code Marketplace pose as legitimate development tools while infecting users with the XMRig cryptominer for Monero.
ExtensionTotal researcher Yuval Ronen has uncovered ten VSCode extensions published on Microsoft’s portal on April 4, 2025.
The package names are:
- Prettier - Code for VSCode (by prettier) - 486K installs
- Discord Rich Presence for VS Code (by
Mark H) - 189K installs- Rojo – Roblox Studio Sync (by
evaera) - 117K installs- Solidity Compiler (by
VSCode Developer) - 1.3K installs- Claude AI (by
Mark H)- Golang Compiler (by
Mark H)- ChatGPT Agent for VSCode (by
Mark H)- HTML Obfuscator (by
Mark H)- Python Obfuscator for VSCode (by
Mark H)- Rust Compiler for VSCode (by
Mark H)
Yo, @drspod@lemmy.ml, check the article again. Prettier, a very popular extension, heads the list now:
Prettier — Code for VSCode (by prettier) – 955K Installs Discord Rich Presence for VS Code (by Mark H) – 189K Installs Rojo — Roblox Studio Sync (by evaera) – 117K Installs Solidity Compiler (by VSCode Developer) – 1.3K Installs Claude AI (by Mark H) Golang Compiler (by Mark H) ChatGPT Agent for VSCode (by Mark H) HTML Obfuscator (by Mark H) Python Obfuscator for VSCode (by Mark H) Rust Compiler for VSCode (by Mark H)Thanks, I’ve updated the description text.
Let this be a lesson. We should never, ever, use software.
Software is the leading cause of all computer viruses.
All people who use software will fucking die, smh.
Oh Hi Mark
Such tricks were was predictable, as VSCode extensions, letting arbitrary JS run on your system, are an obvious security risk.
Recently I used Zed editor instead, it’s smooth, but this also has extensions, only these are fewer and in rust ( maybe a higher barrier, targeting less users, so far… ). What’s the solution here - is there some intrinsically safer sandboxed system ?shocker. an electron app that’s terrible and full of malware.
Don’t think it has anything to do with electron. VSCode is just the largest editor that people install extensions for, so it’s what makes the most sense to write malware for. If vim was more popular, I’m sure there would be more crypto mining extensions for that (I wonder how many there are? Surely more than zero?)
