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Malicious VSCode extensions with millions of installs discovered
(www.bleepingcomputer.com)
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What makes this even more sneaky is that JetBrains has a theme called "Darcula".
So, with a wider generic theme called Dracula and themes that duplicate JetBrains Darcula theme, it is no surprise that "Darcula Official" is being installed.
It's more than just a typosquat
Edit:
But why can a theme make web requests?!
It's not a theme here, it's an extension.
I think that's how themes are distributed for VSCode, right?
With VSCode, everything is an extension.
But the vscode marketplace seems to have filters for themes, so there must be some way to differentiate them.
I think extensions need a permissions system
You declare it in the package.json as a category when publishing. It's completely self-selected with no oversight, review, or enforced permissions.
Microsoft security practices haven't changed much over the decades