Top issues
Problem
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are structured addresses that point to locations and assets on the internet. URLs allow software developers to build complex applications that exchange data with servers that can be hosted in multiple geographical regions. URLs can commonly be found embedded in documentation, configuration files, source code and compiled binaries. One or more embedded URLs were discovered to link to raw files hosted on GitHub. Attackers often abuse popular web services to host malicious payloads. Since code-sharing services URLs are typically allowed by security solutions, using them for payload delivery increases the odds that the malicious code will reach the user. While the presence of code-sharing service locations does not imply malicious intent, all of their uses in a software package should be documented and approved. An increasing number of software supply chain attacks in the open source space leverages the GitHub service to deliver malicious payloads.Prevalence in Visual Studio Code community
78 packages
found in
Top 100
618 packages
found in
Top 1k
4203 packages
found in
Top 10k
27868 packages
in community
Next steps
Investigate reported detections.
If the software should not include these network references, investigate your build and release environment for software supply chain compromise.
You should delay the software release until the investigation is completed, or until the issue is risk accepted.
Consider an alternative delivery mechanism for software packages.
Detected presence of software components with dependencies that are hosted outside the official project repository.
hunting
Problem
Software developers use programming and design knowledge to build reusable software components. Software components are the basic building blocks for modern applications. Software consumed by an enterprise consists of hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of open source components. Each of these components can have dozens, or even hundreds, of its own dependencies. When building applications, software developers download and install components from public repositories. For components to work properly, all of their dependencies also need to be installed. Some package repositories, like Node Package Manager (NPM), allow components to declare dependencies that are hosted remotely. Such dependencies are automatically downloaded from a specified location during software component installation. Since remotely hosted dependencies are not immutable, that enables a threat actor to change the dependency contents even after a component was published and vetted by security solutions. It is uncommon to find open source components that use remotely hosted dependencies residing outside the official project source code repository.Prevalence in Visual Studio Code community
35 packages
found in
Top 100
226 packages
found in
Top 1k
1137 packages
found in
Top 10k
5416 packages
in community
Next steps
Review software component remote dependency locations.
If the software component resolves dependencies from unusual locations, investigate the build and release environment for software supply chain compromise.
Consider vendoring the software component with all of its dependencies.
Avoid using this software package until it is vetted as safe.
Detected presence of licenses that place restrictions on software distribution.
Causes risk: software distribution restrictions
licenses
Problem
Software license is a legal instrument that governs the use and distribution of software source code and its binary representation. Software publishers have the freedom to choose any commonly used or purposefully written license to publish their work under. While some licenses are liberal and allow almost any kind of distribution, with or without code modification, other licenses are more restrictive and impose rules for their inclusion in other software projects. Some software licenses place restrictions on software distribution of the code they apply to. These restrictions may extend to the services built upon the code licensed under such restrictive licenses. Some restrictive licenses explicitly state that the licensee may not provide the software to third parties as a hosted or managed service, where the service provides users with access to any substantial set of the features or functionality of the licensed software. When building commercial applications, this is typically undesirable. Therefore, the inclusion of any code that may impose limits on software distribution is commonly avoided or even prohibited by the organization policy.Prevalence in Visual Studio Code community
28 packages
found in
Top 100
205 packages
found in
Top 1k
1199 packages
found in
Top 10k
6212 packages
in community
Next steps
Confirm that the software package references a component or a dependency with a restrictive license.
Consider replacing the software component with an alternative that offers a license compatible with organization policy.
Problem
Software developers use programming and design knowledge to build reusable software components. Software components are the basic building blocks for modern applications. Software consumed by an enterprise consists of hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of open source components. Each of these components can have dozens, or even hundreds, of its own dependencies. When building applications, software developers download and install components from public repositories. For components to work properly, all of their dependencies also need to be installed. Some package repositories, like Node Package Manager (NPM), allow components to declare dependencies that are hosted remotely. Such dependencies are automatically downloaded from a specified location during software component installation. Since remotely hosted dependencies are not immutable, that enables a threat actor to change the dependency contents even after a component was published and vetted by security solutions. It is uncommon to find open source components that use remotely hosted binary dependencies.Prevalence in Visual Studio Code community
8 packages
found in
Top 100
55 packages
found in
Top 1k
192 packages
found in
Top 10k
757 packages
in community
Next steps
Review software component remote dependency locations.
If the software component resolves dependencies from unusual locations, investigate the build and release environment for software supply chain compromise.
Consider vendoring the software component with all of its dependencies.
Avoid using this software package until it is vetted as safe.
Detected presence of low severity vulnerabilities.
Causes risk: low severity vulnerabilities
vulnerabilities
Problem
Software composition analysis has identified a component with one or more known vulnerabilities. Based on the CVSS scoring, these vulnerabilities have been marked as low severity.Prevalence in Visual Studio Code community
55 packages
found in
Top 100
423 packages
found in
Top 1k
2177 packages
found in
Top 10k
11013 packages
in community
Next steps
Perform impact analysis for the reported CVEs.
Update the component to the latest version.
Lower severity vulnerabilities can be resolved with less urgency, but you should still make a plan to do so.
Top behaviors
Modifies file/directory permissions.
permissions
Prevalence in Visual Studio Code community
Behavior often found in this community (Common)
65 packages
found in
Top 100
535 packages
found in
Top 1k
2853 packages
found in
Top 10k
14133 packages
in community
Might contain potentially obfuscated code or data.
anomaly
Prevalence in Visual Studio Code community
Behavior often found in this community (Common)
85 packages
found in
Top 100
673 packages
found in
Top 1k
4329 packages
found in
Top 10k
28768 packages
in community
Opens URLs during installation or upon launch.
network
Prevalence in Visual Studio Code community
Behavior often found in this community (Common)
47 packages
found in
Top 100
303 packages
found in
Top 1k
1634 packages
found in
Top 10k
8176 packages
in community
Contains URLs that link to raw files on GitHub.
network
Prevalence in Visual Studio Code community
Behavior often found in this community (Common)
78 packages
found in
Top 100
618 packages
found in
Top 1k
4203 packages
found in
Top 10k
27868 packages
in community
Contains URLs that link to interesting file formats.
network
Prevalence in Visual Studio Code community
Behavior often found in this community (Common)
61 packages
found in
Top 100
477 packages
found in
Top 1k
2617 packages
found in
Top 10k
15022 packages
in community
Top vulnerabilities
Vulnerability Exploitation Lifecycle
(1 Active Vulnerabilities)
None
1 (1 Fixable)
CVE-2025-5889l
None
None
Exploits Unknown
Exploits Exist
Exploited by Malware
Patching Mandated