Microsoft researchers backdoor AI agents by editing fewer than 10 dormant neurons
This story is from 2026-11-10. It is preserved in the archive; the latest stories are on the live feed.
Microsoft Research's 'Lazarus' technique plants a hidden backdoor in an AI agent by reprogramming fewer than 10 rarely used neurons, with no retraining; a trigger string then activates the backdoor, with one replication reporting 98.8% success using 7 neurons.
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Timeline · 9 reports
- 2026-11-13 00:40 · DEV Community — Machine Learning
7 neurons, 98.8%: I rebuilt Microsoft's Lazarus backdoor - 2026-11-12 03:35 · r/artificial
Microsoft researchers backdoored an AI agent by editing fewer than 10 neurons - no retraining needed - 2026-11-11 15:04 · DEV Community — Machine Learning
Microsoft's 'Lazarus' backdoor hides in fewer than 10 dormant neurons — and needs no retraining - 2026-11-11 10:01 · DEV Community — Machine Learning
Seven Neurons and a Trigger String: What Microsoft's Lazarus Backdoor Actually Proves - 2026-11-11 08:30 · The Next Web
Microsoft finds AI agents can be backdoored by editing under 10 neurons - 2026-11-11 07:21 · The Hacker News (security)
Microsoft Researchers Show AI Agents Can Be Backdoored by Editing Fewer Than 10 Neurons - 2026-11-11 04:48 · DEV Community — AI
🗞️ AI Daily Report, Nov 11: Microsoft's Lazarus backdoors AI agents via dormant neurons, NVIDIA's Agent Substrate targets idle agent waste on K8s, and ChatGPT's old voice modes retire Dec 11. - 2026-11-11 04:09 · r/LocalLLaMA
Microsoft Research backdoored an AI agent by directly editing fewer than 10 dormant neurons - 2026-11-10 23:18 · AlphaSignal
Microsoft's Lazarus Backdoors AI Agents by Rewiring Just 10 Neurons