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OET: Optimization-based prompt injection Evaluation Toolkit

Authors: Jinsheng Pan, Xiaogeng Liu, Chaowei Xiao

Published: 2025-05-01

arXiv ID: 2505.00843v1

Added to Library: 2025-11-11 14:25 UTC

Red Teaming

📄 Abstract

Large Language Models (LLMs) have demonstrated remarkable capabilities in natural language understanding and generation, enabling their widespread adoption across various domains. However, their susceptibility to prompt injection attacks poses significant security risks, as adversarial inputs can manipulate model behavior and override intended instructions. Despite numerous defense strategies, a standardized framework to rigorously evaluate their effectiveness, especially under adaptive adversarial scenarios, is lacking. To address this gap, we introduce OET, an optimization-based evaluation toolkit that systematically benchmarks prompt injection attacks and defenses across diverse datasets using an adaptive testing framework. Our toolkit features a modular workflow that facilitates adversarial string generation, dynamic attack execution, and comprehensive result analysis, offering a unified platform for assessing adversarial robustness. Crucially, the adaptive testing framework leverages optimization methods with both white-box and black-box access to generate worst-case adversarial examples, thereby enabling strict red-teaming evaluations. Extensive experiments underscore the limitations of current defense mechanisms, with some models remaining susceptible even after implementing security enhancements.

🔍 Key Points

  • Introduction of the Optimization-based Evaluation Toolkit (OET) for benchmarking prompt injection attacks and defenses against large language models (LLMs).
  • OET provides a modular framework that supports adaptive adversarial testing using both white-box and black-box optimization methods, allowing researchers to systematically evaluate and improve model robustness.
  • Extensive evaluations reveal a significant susceptibility of open-source LLMs to adversarial attacks, highlighting the limitations of existing defense mechanisms across various datasets and domains.
  • The toolkit enables customized implementation of new attack strategies, fostering exploration of diverse defense methods and their real-world applications.

💡 Why This Paper Matters

This paper presents a critical advancement in the evaluation of adversarial robustness in LLMs through the development of OET. By addressing the gaps in current evaluation frameworks, OET enables researchers to rigorously assess defenses against prompt injection attacks, ultimately contributing to a more secure application of LLMs in various sectors.

🎯 Why It's Interesting for AI Security Researchers

This paper is particularly relevant for AI security researchers as it provides a comprehensive evaluation framework that not only benchmarks existing defenses but also encourages the development of new ones. The insights gained from the OET toolkit can significantly impact the understanding of adversarial vulnerabilities in LLMs, making it a valuable resource for enhancing the security of AI systems.

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