arXiv AI

Measuring and Exploiting Contextual Bias in LLM-Assisted Security Code Review

arXiv AI
Oct 28

When AI Agrees Too Much: Manipulating Automated Code Review via Bias Injection

The paper investigates how large language model (LLM)–based automated code review (ACR) systems can be manipulated through contextual bias injection, a framing effect that lets presentation override content. A large‑scale study across six LLMs confirms the framing effect in vulnerability detection, and a realistic experiment on 33 CVEs in 20 projects shows that a novel LLM‑assisted refinement attack succeeds in 97% of cases, while a template‑based attack fails. The results underscore the vulnerability of real‑world ACR pipelines and the need for human oversight and trust in the development process.

By Georgios Alexopoulos, Nikolaos Alexopoulos, Diomidis Spinellis, Dimitris Mitropoulos
arXiv AI
2d ago

A.S.E 2.0: Understanding How Repository Context Impacts the Security of LLM-Generated Code

The paper introduces CASE-Bench, a benchmark of 145 repository-level tasks derived from real CVEs across 51 projects, each run in Docker with functional tests and proof‑of‑concept exploits. It evaluates 13 context‑construction methods and six controls across six LLMs, showing that functionality‑oriented context improves functional pass rates by up to 8.2 pp but only 3.7 pp for security, that omitting safeguards can drop secure pass rates by 8.1 pp, and that coding agents see relevant safeguards in only 27‑36 % of trajectories. These results highlight how repository context shapes the security of LLM‑generated code and guide the design of security‑aware context construction and evaluation.

By Jiongchi Yu, Keke Lian, Junqing Wang, Zhikang Fan, Zhaoxuan Li, Yongheng Huang, Ziming Zhao, Dong Zhang
arXiv AI
Aug 18

Workspace Topology as an Attack Vector in Agentic Coding Assistants

arXiv:2608. 14876v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: Agentic coding assistants are finding widespread use, not just in new code development but in quickly ingesting and leveraging third-party code.

By Alexandre G. R. Day, Pradeep Yadlapalli, Sriram Venkatapathy, Thomas Paniagua, Nick Raines, Sahil Wadhwa, Himanshu Kumar, Andy Luo, Sudeep Panyam, Rikhiya Ghosh, Pranab Mohanty, Giri Iyengar
arXiv Machine Learning
Sep 3

CodePoisonRAG: Knowledge Poisoning Attacks on Retrieval-Augmented Code Generation

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 Machine Learning
Sep 10

VEX-Bench: Benchmarking LLM Agents for Assessing Exploitability of Software Supply Chain Vulnerabilities

arXiv:2609.08040v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The software supply chain has become an increasingly exposed attack surface because of its reliance on intricate yet fragile dependencies. Existing d...

By Jiahao Shi, Edward Tsien, Yifeng Di, Hongjiao Zhang, Yuan Tang, Ronit Dey, Ilona Shishov, Gal Netanel, Zvi Grinberg, Vladimir Belousov, Bat-Zion Rotman, Ilan Pinto, Tianyi Zhang
arXiv AI
Oct 12

Auditing Prompt Injection Defenses Before They Reach Users: What Strong Adversaries Reveal

The paper examines how fine‑tuned defenses against prompt injection in large language models can be audited before deployment. By leveraging intermediate checkpoints from the fine‑tuning process, the authors create strong optimization‑based attacks (e.g., GCG and BEAST) that dramatically increase attack success rates—from near zero to up to 96%—against state‑of‑the‑art defenses. This demonstrates that current empirical evaluations often overestimate robustness and that pre‑deployment stress‑testing can uncover real vulnerabilities.

By Xiaoxue Yang, Bozhidar Stevanoski, Matthieu Meeus, Yves-Alexandre de Montjoye