A security incident involving the Nx Console VS Code extension compromised major technology companies in May 2026. The attack originated from a poisoned version of the extension, which served as a vector for a broader supply chain breach. Threat actor group TeamPCP leveraged this vulnerability to infiltrate GitHub, OpenAI, and Mistral AI. The campaign targeted developer credentials and internal source code across all three organizations.
Malicious extension harvested developer credentials across major tech firms
The malicious build, identified as Nx Console 18.95.0, remained live on the Visual Studio Marketplace for exactly eighteen minutes between 12:30 pm and 12:48 pm UTC on May 18, 2026. This version carried CVE-2026-45321, a vulnerability rated at 9.6 on the CVSS scale. The trojanized extension executed a shell command disguised as a routine setup task during installation. It deployed a credential stealer that harvested tokens from password managers and cloud services.
The breach resulted in the exfiltration of approximately 3,800 internal GitHub repositories. OpenAI confirmed that two employee devices were compromised with limited credential material taken. Mistral AI reported that its npm and PyPI SDKs became trojaned as part of the same coordinated campaign. The attack spread across 170 npm packages and two PyPI packages originating from a compromise in TanStack's router ecosystem.
GitHub CISO Alexis Wales stated there is no evidence of impact to customer information stored outside of internal repositories. OpenAI described the incident as reflecting a shift toward targeting shared software dependencies rather than single companies. The exact extent of data taken from OpenAI and Mistral AI remains unclear due to limited public details on specific files or credentials.
TanStack has not confirmed additional remediation steps beyond the initial supply chain compromise. Microsoft is simultaneously addressing an unrelated unpatched vulnerability in its BitLocker encryption system.
Source: NotebookCheck
