"Tab, Tab, Bug": Security Pitfalls of Next Edit Suggestions in AI-Integrated IDEs

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Lyu, Yunlong, Tang, Yixuan, Chen, Peng, Dong, Tian, Wang, Xinyu, Dong, Zhiqiang, Chen, Hao
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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author Lyu, Yunlong
Tang, Yixuan
Chen, Peng
Dong, Tian
Wang, Xinyu
Dong, Zhiqiang
Chen, Hao
author_facet Lyu, Yunlong
Tang, Yixuan
Chen, Peng
Dong, Tian
Wang, Xinyu
Dong, Zhiqiang
Chen, Hao
contents Modern AI-integrated IDEs are shifting from passive code completion to proactive Next Edit Suggestions (NES). Unlike traditional autocompletion, NES is designed to construct a richer context from both recent user interactions and the broader codebase to suggest multi-line, cross-line, or even cross-file modifications. This evolution significantly streamlines the programming workflow into a tab-by-tab interaction and enhances developer productivity. Consequently, NES introduces a more complex context retrieval mechanism and sophisticated interaction patterns. However, existing studies focus almost exclusively on the security implications of standalone LLM-based code generation, ignoring the potential attack vectors posed by NES in modern AI-integrated IDEs. The underlying mechanisms of NES remain under-explored, and their security implications are not yet fully understood. In this paper, we conduct the first systematic security study of NES systems. First, we perform an in-depth dissection of the NES mechanisms to understand the newly introduced threat vectors. It is found that NES retrieves a significantly expanded context, including inputs from imperceptible user actions and global codebase retrieval, which increases the attack surfaces. Second, we conduct a comprehensive in-lab study to evaluate the security implications of NES. The evaluation results reveal that NES is susceptible to context poisoning and is sensitive to transactional edits and human-IDE interactions. Third, we perform a large-scale online survey involving over 200 professional developers to assess the perceptions of NES security risks in real-world development workflows. The survey results indicate a general lack of awareness regarding the potential security pitfalls associated with NES, highlighting the need for increased education and improved security countermeasures in AI-integrated IDEs.
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id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_06759
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle "Tab, Tab, Bug": Security Pitfalls of Next Edit Suggestions in AI-Integrated IDEs
Lyu, Yunlong
Tang, Yixuan
Chen, Peng
Dong, Tian
Wang, Xinyu
Dong, Zhiqiang
Chen, Hao
Cryptography and Security
Human-Computer Interaction
Modern AI-integrated IDEs are shifting from passive code completion to proactive Next Edit Suggestions (NES). Unlike traditional autocompletion, NES is designed to construct a richer context from both recent user interactions and the broader codebase to suggest multi-line, cross-line, or even cross-file modifications. This evolution significantly streamlines the programming workflow into a tab-by-tab interaction and enhances developer productivity. Consequently, NES introduces a more complex context retrieval mechanism and sophisticated interaction patterns. However, existing studies focus almost exclusively on the security implications of standalone LLM-based code generation, ignoring the potential attack vectors posed by NES in modern AI-integrated IDEs. The underlying mechanisms of NES remain under-explored, and their security implications are not yet fully understood. In this paper, we conduct the first systematic security study of NES systems. First, we perform an in-depth dissection of the NES mechanisms to understand the newly introduced threat vectors. It is found that NES retrieves a significantly expanded context, including inputs from imperceptible user actions and global codebase retrieval, which increases the attack surfaces. Second, we conduct a comprehensive in-lab study to evaluate the security implications of NES. The evaluation results reveal that NES is susceptible to context poisoning and is sensitive to transactional edits and human-IDE interactions. Third, we perform a large-scale online survey involving over 200 professional developers to assess the perceptions of NES security risks in real-world development workflows. The survey results indicate a general lack of awareness regarding the potential security pitfalls associated with NES, highlighting the need for increased education and improved security countermeasures in AI-integrated IDEs.
title "Tab, Tab, Bug": Security Pitfalls of Next Edit Suggestions in AI-Integrated IDEs
topic Cryptography and Security
Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.06759