Visual Studio Code CVE-2026-57102

Exploitation requires user interaction (CVSS UI:R): the victim must open or interact with attacker-controlled content in Visual Studio Code - such as a malicious repository, workspace, file, or link that causes the editor to include functionality from an untrusted control sphere. No authentication is required (PR:N) and the vector is network-reachable (AV:N) with low complexity (AC:L), so no attacker-side privileges or special access are needed. The chief limiting factor is that the attack cannot succeed without the victim opening the malicious content; there is no zero-click path, and Workspace Trust in restricted mode may blunt untrusted-workspace vectors on default configurations.

The CVSS 3.1 vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H drives the 8.8 score: network vector, low complexity, no privileges, but mandatory user interaction (UI:R) - meaning a victim must open a repository, file, or link. That UI:R is the primary limiting factor and separates this from a wormable zero-click flaw. No EPSS score was provided in the input, and there is no KEV listing and no POC signal, so real-world exploitation pressure is currently unproven despite the high base score. Note a tension worth flagging: the feed tags this 'Authentication Bypass' while CWE-829 and the description frame it as a security-feature bypass via untrusted-content inclusion - treat the 'auth bypass' tag as loose labeling and rely on the CWE/description; the practical risk is a developer opening a malicious project, which is a realistic and well-precedented attack pattern for VS Code.

An attacker crafts a malicious repository or file - for example a project with hostile workspace configuration or a component referenced from an untrusted location - and lures a developer into opening it in Visual Studio Code. When the victim opens the content (UI:R), the untrusted functionality loads and bypasses the intended security feature, giving the attacker high-impact control over the editor's context. No public exploit is identified at time of analysis.