File exfiltration in VS Code Live Server extension v5.7.9 via crafted HTML/localhost interaction
Information about the vulnerable code path is not available in the provided content. The provided content states that Visual Studio Code extension Live Server v5.7.9 contains an issue that allows attackers to exfiltrate local files when a victim user interacts with a crafted HTML page, leveraging Live Server’s localhost functionality (commonly a local HTTP server) to enable file discovery and exfiltration.
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Impact, mitigation & remediation
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Impact
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Mitigation
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Remediation
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Exploits
1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos.
Repository purpose: a GitHub Pages, browser-executed proof-of-concept named “Live Server Evil Crawler” demonstrating CVE-2025-65717 (VSCode Live Server extension allowing requests from any origin). The PoC shows how a malicious web page can interact with a localhost Live Server instance and read exposed content. Structure: - README.md: describes the vulnerability, features (port scanner + crawler), and links to the hosted demo and the Ox Security article. - index.html: UI for selecting a port range to scan (default 5000–6000) and a manual port input; loads index.js. - index.js: core logic. Key capabilities (index.js): - Localhost port scanning: scanPorts() probes http://localhost:<port>/ across a user-specified range using fetch(..., mode:'no-cors') with a 12s timeout and concurrency batching (batchSize=100). Any port that responds is listed with a “crawl” button. - Recursive crawling and content retrieval: startCrawl(port) sets origin=http://localhost:<port>, clears prior results, and calls crawl(origin+'/'). crawl() fetches a URL, records it, and if the response is HTML, parses it and follows <a href> links recursively (joinPath resolves relative/absolute links). report() creates a UI entry; when expanded, it fetches the resource again and displays text/* bodies, otherwise labels it as binary with the detected content-type. Overall, this is an operational browser-based PoC demonstrating cross-origin access to a localhost development server, enabling discovery of the server and exfiltration/reading of served files via recursive link traversal.
Affected products & vendors
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Recent activity
19 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A critical remote file exfiltration vulnerability in the VS Code 'Live Server' extension leveraging localhost functionality to exfiltrate files from a developer machine; affects all versions.
Local file discovery/exfiltration risk in the VS Code Live Server extension due to insufficient cross-origin protections, allowing a malicious webpage to interact with the developer’s localhost Live Server and retrieve served content.
A high-severity vulnerability in the VS Code Live Server extension enabling remote file exfiltration from the developer environment/host.
Critical vulnerability in the VS Code Live Server extension that can enable local file exfiltration when a developer is lured to a malicious website while the extension is running.
The version that knows your environment.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.