CVE-2025-62449 is a path traversal vulnerability classified under CWE-22 found in the Microsoft Visual Studio Code CoPilot Chat Extension version 0.27.0. This vulnerability arises due to improper limitation of pathnames to restricted directories, allowing an attacker with authorized local access to manipulate file paths and bypass security restrictions. The attacker must have at least limited privileges (PR:L) and require user interaction (UI:R) to exploit this flaw. Exploitation can lead to unauthorized reading or modification of files outside the intended directory scope, impacting confidentiality and integrity significantly, while availability impact remains low. The vulnerability does not require network access (AV:L), meaning exploitation is local to the machine where the extension is installed. The CVSS v3.1 score of 6.8 reflects a medium severity level, considering the high confidentiality and integrity impacts but limited scope and exploitation complexity. No public exploits or patches are currently available, but the vulnerability has been officially published and reserved by Microsoft. This flaw could be leveraged by malicious insiders or compromised accounts to access sensitive source code, configuration files, or credentials stored locally, undermining development security and potentially leading to further compromise.

For European organizations, especially those heavily reliant on Visual Studio Code and the CoPilot Chat Extension for software development, this vulnerability poses a risk of unauthorized local access to sensitive files. Confidentiality breaches could expose proprietary source code, intellectual property, or credentials, while integrity violations could allow tampering with code or configuration files, potentially introducing backdoors or vulnerabilities. Although the attack requires local access and user interaction, insider threats or malware with user-level privileges could exploit this flaw. The limited availability impact means service disruption is unlikely, but the breach of confidentiality and integrity can have severe consequences including regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR), reputational damage, and financial loss. Organizations with lax endpoint security or insufficient privilege management are at higher risk. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate threat but does not eliminate future exploitation risks.

1. Monitor for and apply official patches or updates from Microsoft as soon as they become available for the CoPilot Chat Extension. 2. Restrict installation and usage of the CoPilot Chat Extension to trusted users and systems only, minimizing exposure. 3. Implement strict local privilege management to limit user permissions and reduce the risk of exploitation by low-privilege users. 4. Employ endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor suspicious file access or path traversal attempts within developer environments. 5. Educate developers and IT staff about the risks of path traversal vulnerabilities and encourage cautious handling of extensions and plugins. 6. Consider temporarily disabling or uninstalling the vulnerable extension version 0.27.0 until a patch is released. 7. Conduct regular audits of file system permissions and access logs to detect unauthorized access attempts. 8. Use application whitelisting and sandboxing techniques to contain the extension’s file system interactions.