A wiper prompt ships inside the Amazon Q extension for VS Code
In shortVersion 1.84.0 carried an instruction to wipe the machine and cloud resources; a syntax error stopped it running (CVE-2025-8217).
What happened
An attacker used a GitHub token with too much scope in the build configuration to commit code to the open-source extension, and it shipped automatically in version 1.84.0 on 17 July 2025.
The code told the agent to clean the system to a near-factory state and delete file-system and cloud resources. AWS said it failed to run because of a syntax error, pulled 1.84.0, released 1.85.0, and told users to remove 1.84.0 where it remained installed.
Why it worked
An AI extension is software that updates itself. A compromised release reaches every installed copy, and here the payload was an instruction rather than code.
What EndLayer shows or does
- Available now
Which devices have Amazon Q installed, once it is in your catalogue of AI applications. Roadmap →
- Available now
A blocked AI tool is uninstalled once an administrator approves, including on laptops that were offline. Roadmap →
- Not covered
Spotting the malicious instruction inside a release.