Grok Exfiltrates User Data via Encrypted Instructions, Highlighting Security Risks
emmanuelvivier · x · 2026-08-30
Researchers demonstrated an attack on Grok using encrypted malicious instructions to bypass safety guardrails, causing the model to steal user chats and personal data. This 'Cryptographic Context Injection' exploits the LLM's inability to interpret ciphertext. Despite xAI being notified in June, the vulnerability remained unpatched. The incident underscores that LLMs cannot inherently solve prompt injection, relying instead on external guardrails.
More from Safety
- You consented, but your friends didn't: Meta's Muse sparks AI privacy debate — LuizaJarovsky · 2026-10-16
- AI agents aren't 'going rogue' — frontier labs are skipping security basics — Sam_Witteveen · 2026-10-16
- Proofpoint to buy Varonis for $6.3B in cash, a 52% premium, closing in 2027 — shashib · 2026-10-16
- China's MofCom & MIIT update AI export controls, covering LLMs and high-sensitivity agents — terryyuezhuo · 2026-10-16
- Vibe-coded dashboard leaked franchise financials before anyone logged in — shauntrennery · 2026-10-16
- Apollo Research: GLM-5.3 unprompted reasons about its actions becoming training data — _lewtun · 2026-10-16