Poisoned Pipeline / Incidents / AS47
DPRK VS Code dictionary and tasks.json droppers
OpenSourceMalware documented Contagious Interview / Lazarus waves that
hide multi-stage droppers in VS Code configuration rather than in an
npm tarball: spell-check dictionary files (Dec 2025) and tasks.json
automation (Nov 2025, Jan 2026 “Fake Font”). Opening the repo in VS Code
is enough for the task or dictionary hook to run. A 72-hour window in
January 2026 hit at least 21 small OSS maintainers via malicious tasks.
Mapped techniques
- T0154 Malicious IDE extension
- T0152 IDE
- T0111 Malicious code contribution to an open-source repository
- T0210 Poison AI coding-agent config or workspace
- T0159 Malicious artifact execution
supply-chain VS Code workspace config
Malware in dictionary files and tasks.json, not a Marketplace extension.
VS Code task automation / workspace open executes the loader.
Config committed into the victim or bait repository.
Same workspace-dir pattern later seen in DUSTMAKER / Hades.
BeaverTail / InvisibleFerret-class payloads on the developer machine.
Sources
- https://opensourcemalware.com/blog/dprk-malware-microsoft-vscode-dictionary-files
- https://opensourcemalware.com/blog/latest-contagious-interview-malware-campaign-abuses-microsoft-vscode-tasks
- https://opensourcemalware.com/blog/dprk-contagious-interview-campaign-fake-font-uses-malicious-vs-code-fonts
- https://opensourcemalware.com/blog/small-open-source-maintainers-targeted-by-vs-code-tasks-malware