🛡️ Hackers Inject Destructive System Commands into Amazon’s AI Coding Assistant

Published on: July 26, 2025

By: CyberDudeBivash Editorial Team

Website:cyberdudebivash.com

🚨 What Happened: AI Agent Turned Rogue

A troubling security incident has shaken confidence in AI-powered developer tools—Amazon’s Q AI coding assistant extension for Visual Studio Code (VS Code) was compromised, briefly distributing a version containing destructive system-level instructions.(turn0search0 / turn0search2).

🧩 Key Incident Details

• A malicious pull request targeting the GitHub repository for the AWS VS Code toolkit was approved in June 2025.
• This pull request injected a prompt into version 1.84 of the Amazon Q extension (released July 13–17), instructing the AI agent to wipe user files and AWS resources.
• Amazon recalled the compromised version and released version 1.85 shortly after, claiming no actual customer resources were impacted.(turn0search0).

🧪 What the Malicious Prompt Did

The injected prompt directed Amazon Q to act as a factory reset agent:

• Delete files from the user’s home directory, excluding hidden directories.
• Record deletions to /tmp/CLEANER.LOG.
• Use AWS CLI to terminate EC2 instances, delete S3 buckets, and remove IAM users via discovered AWS CLI profiles.
• Loop command execution continuously until completion.(turn0search1)

Although the hacker claimed the prompt was intentionally non-functional, it exposed a glaring security gap in how AI agents are governed.

⚠️ Broader Implications

🔥 Supply Chain & AI Governance Risk

This incident exemplifies how AI assistant tools—especially those executing commands—can be weaponized through supply chain compromise and insufficient CI/CD review.

🧠 Prompt Injection Exposure

Prompt injection attacks can alter agent behavior at runtime, enabling unintended actions or system commands.

🔒 Elevated Privileges on Local Machines

When developers grant AI tools filesystem and AWS access, the stakes are substantial—AI can execute destructive actions unless heavily restricted.

✅ Recommended Actions

1. Update Amazon Q to version 1.85 or later via VS Code Marketplace.
2. Review all IDE extensions with AI capabilities: limit access to filesystem, shell tools, and cloud APIs.
3. Establish prompt injection defenses in DevSecOps: use immutable pipelines, CI checks with prompt validation, and signatures for agent actions.
4. Adopt least-privilege policies: ensure AI tools in development environments cannot access production secrets or execution tools.
5. Monitor extension behavior at runtime: track abnormal CLI calls or unexpected filesystem changes.

🧠 Expert Commentary

“This incident exposes a critical blind spot: AI agents running with privileged access can become attack vectors if not tightly governed.”
— Michael Bargury, CTO at Zenity, commenting on prompt injection risks.(turn0search2)

Experts criticize the incident as a failure of AI supply chain governance and urge organizations to treat AI agents like any code dependency—with rigorous review and runtime monitoring.

📌 Final Thoughts

The Amazon Q incident is not just a one-off mishap—it’s a cautionary tale for organizations embracing AI tools. With growing reliance on AI assistants in coding workflows, security guardrails, prompt sanitization, and runtime isolation are no longer optional—they're critical.Remember: any tool granted system or cloud privileges must be treated with zero trust—and human oversight must remain central.

💬 Join Our Discussion

• Do you allow AI coding assistants to run local or cloud commands?
• What prompt sanitation or runtime monitoring measures do you have in place?

Share your experience in the comments or tweet us at @CyberDudeBivash.

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Tags: #AmazonQ #AIcodingAgent #PromptInjection #DevSecOps #SupplyChainRisk #AmazonQVulnerability #Cybersecurity #CyberDudeBivash