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Securing Large Language Models (LLMs) from Prompt Injection Attacks

Authors: Omar Farooq Khan Suri, John McCrae

Published: 2025-12-01

arXiv ID: 2512.01326v1

Added to Library: 2025-12-02 04:01 UTC

Red Teaming

📄 Abstract

Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly being deployed in real-world applications, but their flexibility exposes them to prompt injection attacks. These attacks leverage the model's instruction-following ability to make it perform malicious tasks. Recent work has proposed JATMO, a task-specific fine-tuning approach that trains non-instruction-tuned base models to perform a single function, thereby reducing susceptibility to adversarial instructions. In this study, we evaluate the robustness of JATMO against HOUYI, a genetic attack framework that systematically mutates and optimizes adversarial prompts. We adapt HOUYI by introducing custom fitness scoring, modified mutation logic, and a new harness for local model testing, enabling a more accurate assessment of defense effectiveness. We fine-tuned LLaMA 2-7B, Qwen1.5-4B, and Qwen1.5-0.5B models under the JATMO methodology and compared them with a fine-tuned GPT-3.5-Turbo baseline. Results show that while JATMO reduces attack success rates relative to instruction-tuned models, it does not fully prevent injections; adversaries exploiting multilingual cues or code-related disruptors still bypass defenses. We also observe a trade-off between generation quality and injection vulnerability, suggesting that better task performance often correlates with increased susceptibility. Our results highlight both the promise and limitations of fine-tuning-based defenses and point toward the need for layered, adversarially informed mitigation strategies.

🔍 Key Points

  • The study evaluates JATMO, a fine-tuning approach that reduces the vulnerability of LLMs to prompt injection attacks by training them for a single task.
  • HOUYI is introduced as a robust attack framework, showcasing how it systematically mutates and optimizes prompts to test model defenses.
  • Results show that while JATMO decreases attack success rates compared to instruction-tuned models, it does not eliminate vulnerabilities, especially against sophisticated adversarial techniques.
  • There is an observed trade-off between the generative quality of models and their susceptibility to prompt injections, indicating a complex relationship between task performance and security.
  • The authors propose future avenues for strengthening defenses that may involve layered approaches combining task specialization with real-time monitoring and validation.

💡 Why This Paper Matters

This paper provides crucial insights into the security vulnerabilities of LLMs against prompt injection attacks and highlights the effectiveness and limitations of the JATMO fine-tuning method. By systematically evaluating the robustness of language models under adversarial conditions, the research points to the necessity of developing comprehensive defense strategies that address security concerns while maintaining model performance.

🎯 Why It's Interesting for AI Security Researchers

This paper is of interest to AI security researchers because it examines a critical vulnerability in large language models that are increasingly deployed in sensitive applications. The findings elucidate both the effectiveness and shortcomings of existing mitigation strategies, such as task-specific fine-tuning, whereas the proposed modifications to attack frameworks offer a blueprint for more rigorous testing of security measures in natural language processing systems. The paper serves as a call to action for improved defenses that integrate adversarial training and real-time safeguards, underscoring the pressing need for robust security mechanisms in AI deployments.

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