The Config File Is the Exploit

Check Point Research disclosed critical vulnerabilities in Anthropic's Claude Code where simply opening an untrusted repository could silently execute commands on a developer's machine, steal API credentials, and compromise an entire team's workspace — all through configuration files treated as harmless metadata. Separately, Google and Mandiant dismantled GRIDTIDE, a China-linked espionage campaign that used Google Sheets as command-and-control infrastructure to breach 53 organizations across 42 countries, targeting telecoms and governments for surveillance. Both stories reveal the same pattern: trusted, inert-looking data becoming active attack surfaces.