Reprogramming fewer than 10 dormant neurons can backdoor any AI agent, no training needed

DimitrisPapail · x · 2026-11-11

DimitrisPapail's new article shows weight-reprogramming fewer than 10 dormant neurons in an LLM is enough to backdoor any agent built on it — no training required, and the model passes evals and behaves normally until triggered. Quoted commentary adds that as coding models improve, it gets easier for malicious actors to unsafety-tune OSS models or plant backdoors, akin to the rise of vibe-hacking.

Related event: Microsoft's Lazarus: Reprogramming Fewer Than 10 Dormant Neurons Backdoors AI Agents(45 posts)→

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