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Security researchers at Ox Security have identified that the AI-powered code editors Windsurf and Cursor, both forks of Visual Studio Code, are running outdated versions of Electron and Chromium, exposing over 1.8 million users to at least 94 known and previously patched security vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities include serious issues such as remote code execution and sandbox escape bugs, with a particular focus on CVE-2025-7656, an integer overflow flaw in the V8 JavaScript engine that can be exploited via malicious deep links, infected Markdown previews, or booby-trapped repositories. The researchers demonstrated successful exploitation of this flaw, showing the potential for denial-of-service and arbitrary code execution within the IDEs, which could lead to developer workstation compromise, data theft, or source code manipulation.
Despite responsible disclosure of these risks, vendor responses have been inadequate. Cursor dismissed the vulnerability as "out of scope," claiming it only caused a self-inflicted crash, a stance criticized by security experts for underestimating the risk of memory corruption and more severe attacks. Windsurf has not issued any official mitigation or security advisory. The continued use of outdated Electron and Chromium components in these widely used development tools leaves a significant portion of the developer community exposed to active threats that have already been addressed in newer software versions.
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4 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.
News reports disclosed that the two AI IDEs, used by about 1.8 million developers combined, still contained more than 94 known patched Chromium and V8 flaws because of outdated Electron dependencies.
Following disclosure, Cursor reportedly dismissed the researchers' findings as out of scope, while Windsurf did not respond, leaving the identified Chromium and V8 issues unaddressed.
Ox Security demonstrated a proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2025-7656, a V8 integer overflow, causing denial of service in Cursor and warning that arbitrary code execution may also be possible.
Ox Security said it began responsible disclosure on October 12, 2025, warning that Cursor and Windsurf ship outdated Electron versions exposing users to at least 94 already-patched Chromium and V8 vulnerabilities.
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A critical **one-click remote code execution** flaw in **Microsoft VS Code**, **Cursor**, and **Google Antigravity** allowed attackers to embed a malicious link in a Git commit message and trigger arbitrary code execution when a developer clicked it inside the editor. The exploit reportedly ran with the victim’s terminal privileges and required no warning or confirmation, creating a path to silent compromise across tools used by an estimated **50 million developers**. Researchers at **AISLE** said they first found the issue in VS Code in fall 2025 and disclosed it to Microsoft and Cursor, then identified the same inherited weakness in Google Antigravity in early 2026 because all three products shared VS Code-derived architecture. The flaw could enable credential theft, persistent malware installation, keylogging, and file access or deletion, but **Google, Microsoft, and Cursor have patched the vulnerability**, and current versions are reported not to contain the issue.
Aug 5, 2026
Security researchers at **Ox Security** reported multiple high-to-critical vulnerabilities in widely used *Visual Studio Code* extensions—collectively exceeding **128 million downloads**—that could enable **local file exfiltration** and **code execution** in developer environments. The issues highlighted include **Live Server** (**CVE-2025-65717**), **Code Runner** (**CVE-2025-65715**, referenced in reporting but not included as a CVE entry here), **Markdown Preview Enhanced** (**CVE-2025-65716**), and *Microsoft Live Preview* (no CVE cited in the reporting). Ox Security stated it attempted disclosure starting in June 2025 but did not receive responses from maintainers, warning that exploitation could support **lateral movement**, **data theft**, and **system takeover** in corporate networks where developer workstations are a pivot point. The CVE records included in this set describe two of the extension flaws in more detail: **CVE-2025-65717** (Live Server v5.7.9) allows attackers to **exfiltrate files** when a user interacts with a crafted HTML page, and **CVE-2025-65716** (Markdown Preview Enhanced v0.8.18) can lead to **arbitrary code execution** via a crafted `.md` file (user interaction required). Other items in the feed are unrelated, covering a broad mix of independent vulnerabilities (e.g., Tenable Security Center command injection, LightLLM unsafe deserialization RCE, libvpx heap overflow affecting Firefox/Thunderbird, and multiple router/IoT hard-coded credential and command-injection issues) and should not be treated as part of the VSCode-extension disclosure story.
Jun 29, 2026
Security researchers at **OX Security** disclosed multiple vulnerabilities across widely used Microsoft Visual Studio Code extensions—**Live Server**, **Code Runner**, **Markdown Preview Enhanced**, and **Microsoft Live Preview**—with combined installs reported at **125–128 million**. The issues enable attacks ranging from **local file exfiltration** to **arbitrary code/JavaScript execution**, and highlight how a single vulnerable or malicious extension can be leveraged for broader compromise and potential lateral movement in developer environments. Reported flaws include **CVE-2025-65717** (Live Server; CVSS 9.1) enabling local file theft by luring a developer to a malicious site while the extension’s local server is running (e.g., `localhost:5500`), **CVE-2025-65716** (Markdown Preview Enhanced; CVSS 8.8) allowing arbitrary JavaScript execution via a crafted `.md` file with subsequent local port enumeration and exfiltration, and **CVE-2025-65715** (Code Runner; CVSS 7.8) enabling code execution by tricking users into modifying `settings.json`. Separate reporting on **Microsoft Live Preview** describes a **one-click reflected XSS** and unauthenticated request abuse against the extension’s local development server to enumerate and exfiltrate sensitive files (e.g., `.env`, API keys, source code); this Live Preview issue was reported as patched in version **0.4.16** via input sanitization (e.g., an `escapeHTML` function), while other extension issues were described as **unpatched** at the time of reporting.
Jun 29, 2026