How can an extension change hands with no oversight?

When I open my local copy of my tracking repo of the microsoft/vscode repo I get this message in the Extension Host output channel: 2026-03-05 16:37:29.200 [info] ExtensionService#_doActivateExtension ...

Security researchers revealed two malicious VS Code extensions exfiltrated code snippets, API keys, and proprietary algorithms from 1.5 million developers to servers in China while masquerading as AI ...

Two malicious extensions in Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code (VSCode) Marketplace that were collectively installed 1.5 million times exfiltrate developer data to China-based servers. Both extensions are ...

The JavaScript (aka JScript) malware loader called GootLoader has been observed using a malformed ZIP archive that's designed to sidestep detection efforts by concatenating anywhere from 500 to 1,000 ...

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered two new extensions on Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code) Marketplace that are designed to infect developer machines with stealer malware. The VS Code ...

Anthropic has launched a beta integration that connects its fast-growing Claude Code programming agent directly into Slack, allowing software engineers to delegate coding tasks without leaving the ...

Marking its 30th anniversary on Thursday, the world’s most popular programming language faces a bitter ongoing custody battle rather than a celebration. Creators and community leaders are stepping up ...

A suspicious Visual Studio Code extension with file-encrypting and data-stealing behavior successfully bypassed marketplace review and entered the developer ecosystem. In a suspected test effort, ...

A threat actor named WhiteCobra has been targeting VSCode, Cursor, and Windsurf users by planting 24 malicious extensions in the Visual Studio marketplace and the Open VSX registry. The campaign is ...

When I run extension tests on GitHub actions, there's a lot of unwanted output printed. When trying to have agents run the tests, this all ends up in the context and the model sometimes attribute ...