The paper introduces CodeScan, a black-box, vulnerability-oriented scanning framework designed to detect data poisoning and backdoor attacks in code generation large language models (LLMs). CodeScan operates by analyzing structural similarities across multiple code generations, normalizing them with abstract syntax tree (AST) techniques, and then applying LLM-based vulnerability analysis to identify recurring insecure patterns. Evaluations on 117 models across three architectures and multiple sizes show over 97% detection accuracy with fewer false positives compared to prior methods.
By Shenao Yan, Shan Jin, Shimaa Ahmed, Sunpreet Singh Arora, Yiwei Cai, Yizhen Wang, Yuan Hong
arXiv:2512. 10485v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Vulnerability detection methods based on deep learning (DL) have shown strong performance on benchmark datasets, yet their real-world effectiveness remains underexplored.
By Chaomeng Lu, Bert Lagaisse
arXiv:2608. 14303v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly used for code generation, yet they remain vulnerable to prompts that elicit insecure implementations.
By Francesco Quinzan, Noor Munir, Yishun Lu, Stephen Roberts
The paper proposes a new unsupervised safety detection method for large language models that relies on anomaly detection rather than supervised training on unsafe data. By leveraging local sparsity in a linear representation space obtained via a sparse autoencoder, the authors develop a framework for locally masked SAE-based anomaly detection, providing theoretical support and empirical validation across multiple architectures and datasets. When calibrated with only 1% out-of-distribution data, the method achieves near‑optimal performance while using just 1–2% of SAE neurons for computation.
By Xin Chen, Gil Kur, Alexander Shevchenko, Andreas Krause
The paper proposes a novel unsupervised safety detection method for large language models that relies on local sparsity in a linear representation space recovered via a sparse autoencoder. By masking SAE neurons based on shared active support among nearby points, the authors develop a locally masked anomaly detection framework with theoretical backing. Experiments across multiple architectures and datasets—including capability‑testing and safety‑specific sets—show that using only 1–2% of SAE neurons and a small amount of out‑of‑distribution data yields near‑optimal safety detection performance.
The paper introduces CodePoisonRAG, a framework that poisons retrieval-augmented code generation systems by transforming benign code artifacts into malicious ones. It injects CWE-specific vulnerabilities and false safety claims into a single task-matched artifact, achieving high success rates across multiple generators and even against a defense system. The study demonstrates that attackers can target and propagate specific weaknesses without altering the underlying language model.
By Varun Gadey, Ziad Marey, Alexandra Dmitrienko
arXiv:2606. 17283v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Achieving reproducibility, quantity, and diversity in vulnerability datasets has long been viewed as an inherent three-way trade-off, where improving one dimension often comes at the cost of the others.
By Xiang Mei, Jordi Del Castillo, Pulkit Singh Singaria, Haoran Xi, Abdelouahab Benchikh, Tiffany Bao, Ruoyu Wang, Yan Shoshitaishvili, Adam Doup\'e, Hammond Pearce, Brendan Dolan-Gavitt
The paper surveys 87 influential studies on machine‑learning‑based automated vulnerability detection (ML4AVD), categorizing them by problem formulation, input and detection granularity, target languages, evaluation metrics, datasets, and detection approaches. It identifies twelve self‑reinforcing pain points—such as overreliance on binary classification of C/C++ function‑level vulnerabilities, limited language coverage, and intertwined datasets, baselines, and metrics—that trap the field in a narrow, artificial problem space. The authors propose concrete recommendations to break these feedback loops and evaluate a recent high‑profile effort, AIxCC, against these guidelines, reflecting on ML4AVD’s relevance amid the rise of agentic AI.
By Dan Ristea, Shae McFadden, Ezzeldin Shereen, Madeleine Dwyer, Sanyam Vyas, Chris Hicks, Vasilios Mavroudis
arXiv:2606. 15123v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: We study the task of CVE-conditioned exploit generation, where a model drafts proof-of-concept (PoC) exploits given software vulnerability context.
By Yiwei Chen, Lichi Li, Kai Cheung, Vinny Parla, Ganesh Sundaram
arXiv:2607. 08011v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Large language models have enabled powerful code completion systems that assist developers by predicting subsequent lines of code.
By Anjun Gao, Yueyang Quan, Zhuqing Liu, Minghong Fang
SCRIPTIOC-BENCH is a benchmark designed to evaluate how well large language models can statically extract indicators of compromise (IOCs) from script-based malware. It contains 634 manually verified JavaScript, PowerShell, and VBScript samples and covers four IOC types—URLs, domains, IP addresses, and filesystem artifacts—while distinguishing between directly exposed and encoded indicators. Experiments show that even the best models achieve only 65.4 F1, and a false‑positive taxonomy is introduced to analyze error patterns, with two mitigations (deterministic string utilities and task‑specific adaptation) improving precision and shifting errors toward sample‑grounded mismatches.
By Hanna Kim, Jian Cui, Minkyoo Song, Hwanjo Heo, Seungwon Shin, Kimin Lee, Xiaojing Liao
arXiv:2606. 03128v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Smart contracts face critical security challenges that require thorough auditing in decentralized web services.
By Bagus Rakadyanto Oktavianto Putra, Muhamad Risqi Utama Saputra, Widyawan, Guntur Dharma Putra