{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7162785221","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.29737","title":"Minimal Prompt Perturbations Lead to Code Vulnerabilities: Prompt Fragility and Hidden-State Signals in Coding LLMs","display_name":"Minimal Prompt Perturbations Lead to Code Vulnerabilities: Prompt Fragility and Hidden-State Signals in Coding LLMs","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-05-28","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7162785221","doi":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.29737"},"language":null,"primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2605.29737","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.29737","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"type":"preprint","indexed_in":["datacite"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.29737","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5137338887","display_name":"Alexander Sternfeld","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Sternfeld, Alexander","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5067556590","display_name":"Andrei Kucharavy","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0429-8644"},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Kucharavy, Andrei","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5137348976","display_name":"Ljiljana Dolamic","orcid":null},"institutions":[],"countries":[],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Dolamic, Ljiljana","raw_affiliation_strings":[],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":0,"institutions_distinct_count":0,"corresponding_author_ids":[],"corresponding_institution_ids":[],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":null,"has_fulltext":false,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":null,"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11424","display_name":"Security and Verification in Computing","score":0.33160001039505005,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11424","display_name":"Security and Verification in Computing","score":0.33160001039505005,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T11241","display_name":"Advanced Malware Detection Techniques","score":0.24459999799728394,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1711","display_name":"Signal Processing"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10260","display_name":"Software Engineering Research","score":0.1137000024318695,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/correctness","display_name":"Correctness","score":0.7425000071525574},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/fragility","display_name":"Fragility","score":0.6958000063896179},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/coding","display_name":"Coding (social sciences)","score":0.6725999712944031},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/code","display_name":"Code (set theory)","score":0.6032000184059143},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/source-code","display_name":"Source code","score":0.41839998960494995},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/causal-consistency","display_name":"Causal consistency","score":0.4146000146865845},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/safer","display_name":"SAFER","score":0.34529998898506165}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C55439883","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q360812","display_name":"Correctness","level":2,"score":0.7425000071525574},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C80191262","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5477668","display_name":"Fragility","level":2,"score":0.6958000063896179},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C179518139","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5140297","display_name":"Coding (social sciences)","level":2,"score":0.6725999712944031},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.6219000220298767},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776760102","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5139990","display_name":"Code (set theory)","level":3,"score":0.6032000184059143},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C11413529","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8366","display_name":"Algorithm","level":1,"score":0.4194999933242798},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C43126263","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q128751","display_name":"Source code","level":2,"score":0.41839998960494995},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C175652121","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4379351","display_name":"Causal consistency","level":5,"score":0.4146000146865845},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C38652104","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3510521","display_name":"Computer security","level":1,"score":0.3946000039577484},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C80444323","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2878974","display_name":"Theoretical computer science","level":1,"score":0.34549999237060547},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2776654903","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2601463","display_name":"SAFER","level":2,"score":0.34529998898506165},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C22680326","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7444867","display_name":"Secure coding","level":5,"score":0.3172999918460846},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C50951305","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2482534","display_name":"Unreachable code","level":5,"score":0.3125999867916107},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C47434764","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1770035","display_name":"Dead code","level":5,"score":0.29580000042915344},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C501734568","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q42918","display_name":"Mutation","level":3,"score":0.2867000102996826},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C51929080","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2425187","display_name":"Codebase","level":3,"score":0.28189998865127563},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C38369872","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7445009","display_name":"Security analysis","level":2,"score":0.26600000262260437},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C126965237","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q816335","display_name":"Accidental","level":2,"score":0.25130000710487366}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2605.29737","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.29737","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":null,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.48550/arxiv.2605.29737","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2605.29737","pdf_url":null,"source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4306400194","display_name":"arXiv (Cornell University)","issn_l":null,"issn":null,"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/I205783295","host_organization_name":"Cornell University","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/I205783295"],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":null,"is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"Preprint"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":false,"grobid_xml":false},"content_urls":null,"referenced_works_count":0,"referenced_works":[],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"LLM-based":[0],"coding":[1,148],"assistants":[2],"are":[3,111],"seeing":[4],"rapid":[5],"adoption,":[6],"offering":[7],"substantial":[8],"gains":[9],"in":[10,96],"developer":[11],"productivity.":[12],"As":[13],"organizations":[14],"increasingly":[15],"ship":[16],"code":[17,25,48,79,122],"these":[18],"agents":[19],"produce,":[20],"the":[21,37,85,105,143],"security":[22,49],"of":[23,40],"that":[24,32,68,90,142,159],"becomes":[26],"critical.":[27],"Prior":[28],"work":[29],"has":[30,50],"shown":[31],"minor":[33],"prompt":[34,97,151,155],"perturbations":[35],"degrade":[36],"functional":[38],"correctness":[39],"LLM-generated":[41],"code,":[42],"but":[43,99],"whether":[44],"they":[45],"also":[46],"compromise":[47],"remained":[51],"unstudied.":[52],"We":[53],"apply":[54],"token-level":[55],"mutations":[56,69],"to":[57,82,153],"prompts":[58],"across":[59],"three":[60],"models":[61],"and":[62,66,157],"five":[63],"programming":[64],"languages,":[65],"show":[67,141],"as":[70,72,129],"small":[71],"a":[73,130],"single-character":[74],"change":[75],"can":[76,162],"flip":[77],"generated":[78],"from":[80,124],"secure":[81],"vulnerable.":[83],"Probing":[84],"models'":[86],"hidden":[87],"states":[88],"reveals":[89],"this":[91],"fragility":[92],"is":[93],"partially":[94],"encoded":[95],"representations,":[98],"unevenly":[100],"so.":[101],"Input-handling":[102],"vulnerabilities,":[103,119],"where":[104,120],"model":[106,145],"omits":[107],"validation":[108],"or":[109,133],"sanitization,":[110],"more":[112],"predictable":[113],"(mean":[114,136],"AUC":[115,137],"0.753)":[116],"than":[117],"secure-defaults":[118,168],"insecure":[121],"stems":[123],"one":[125],"local":[126],"choice":[127],"such":[128],"weak":[131],"algorithm":[132],"unsafe":[134],"parameter":[135],"0.674).":[138],"These":[139],"results":[140],"threat":[144],"for":[146],"LLM-assisted":[147],"extends":[149],"beyond":[150],"injection":[152],"ordinary":[154],"variation,":[156],"indicate":[158],"input-handling":[160],"flaws":[161,169],"be":[163],"caught":[164],"before":[165],"generation":[166],"while":[167],"require":[170],"intervention":[171],"during":[172],"decoding.":[173]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-07-01T06:00:48.157686","created_date":"2026-05-30T00:00:00"}