Cyber News #31 - OWASP Top 10 for LLM (Large Language Models)

In the rapidly evolving domain of artificial intelligence, Large Language Models (LLMs) emerge as monumental assets, propelling numerous applications that drive today's digital ecosystem. However, their expansive capabilities bring forth a spectrum of vulnerabilities that could be exploited maliciously.

To shed light on securing LLMs, the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) has introduced the OWASP Top 10 for Large Language Model Applications. This pivotal document endeavors to educate a wide array of stakeholders—developers, architects, managers, and organizations—about the potential security risks tied to deploying and managing LLMs.

The OWASP Top 10 for LLM encapsulates a gamut of critical vulnerabilities inherent in LLM applications, detailing their potential impact, ease of exploitation, and prevalence. Here’s an in-depth look at these vulnerabilities:

1. Prompt Injection (LLM01):

• Attack: Adversaries might exploit LLMs by injecting malicious prompts, misleading the model to unauthorized actions or disclosures.
• Impact: This could lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, and compromised decision-making, tarnishing the system's integrity and trustworthiness.

2. Insecure Output Handling (LLM02):

• Attack: Overlooking the validation of LLM outputs could be exploited to trigger downstream security issues, including code execution.
• Impact: This compromises system security, privilege escalation, XSS and exposes sensitive data for example, potentially resulting in severe financial and reputational damage.

3. Training Data Poisoning (LLM03):

• Attack: Malefactors could tamper with training data to impair the model's learning process, generating skewed or malicious responses.
• Impact: Compromised security, accuracy, or ethical behavior could ensue, undermining the application's reliability and trustworthiness.

4. Model Denial of Service (LLM04):

• Attack: Overloading LLMs with resource-heavy requests can exhaust system resources, rendering the service unavailable.
• Impact: Service disruptions and increased operational costs, which might deter users and tarnish the organization's reputation

5. Supply Chain Vulnerabilities (LLM05):

• Attack: Relying on compromised components or datasets could expose the system to potential exploits throughout the supply chain.
• Impact: This undermines system integrity, causing data breaches, system failures, and potential legal liabilities.

6. Sensitive Information Disclosure (LLM06):

• Attack: Inadequate protection against the disclosure of sensitive information in LLM outputs can be exploited to access confidential data.
• Impact: Legal consequences or a loss of competitive advantage could be the fallout, along with tarnished user trust.

7. Insecure Plugin Design (LLM07):

• Attack: LLM plugins with insufficient access control processing untrusted inputs can be exploited for severe attacks like remote code execution.
• Impact: This could cause critical system breaches, remote code execution, data loss, and severe financial and reputational damage.

8. Excessive Agency (LLM08):

• Attack: Over-autonomizing LLMs can lead to unintended actions based on incorrect or biased model outputs.
• Impact: The reliability, privacy, and trust in the system could be jeopardized, potentially leading to legal repercussions.

9. Overreliance (LLM09):

• Attack: Failing to critically assess LLM outputs can lead to reliance on incorrect or malicious information.
• Impact: Compromised decision-making, security vulnerabilities, and legal liabilities might ensue, impacting the overall trust in the application.

10. Model Theft (LLM10):

• Attack: Unauthorized access to proprietary large language models can lead to model theft and potential misuse.
• Impact: This risks competitive disadvantage, dissemination of sensitive information, and potential legal and financial repercussions.

As LLMs burgeon and permeate diverse domains, fortifying them against malicious exploits is imperative. The OWASP Top 10 for LLM emerges as a seminal guide to understanding and mitigating the critical vulnerabilities inherent in LLMs. By heeding the insights and remediation strategies encapsulated in this document, stakeholders can substantially bolster the security landscape of LLM applications, fostering a safer digital ecosystem for all.

If you want to read the full OWASP Top 10 LLM, click here .

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