arXiv:2509.21761cs.CRcs.AI2025-09被引 10

揭示大模型后门机制,实现精准控制与消除。

Backdoor Attribution: Elucidating and Controlling Backdoor in Language Models

  • 提出三元因果分析框架,定位触发后门的关键注意力头。
  • 仅删3%注意力头即可使攻击成功率下降90%以上。
  • 1点干预即能一键开启或关闭后门,适合安全研究者使用。

微调的大语言模型易受数据投毒引发的后门攻击,但其内部机制仍不透明。现有可解释性研究多关注对齐、越狱和幻觉,忽视后门机理,难以彻底消除威胁。本文提出后门归因(BkdAttr)框架,通过后门探测证明表征中存在可学习的后门特征;进一步开发注意力头归因(BAHA)方法,精准定位负责处理这些特征的具体注意力头。实验发现,这些头数量稀疏,仅剔除约3%的总注意力头,即可使攻击成功率(ASR)下降超过90%。更重要的是,基于归因结果构建的后门向量,仅需在单一表示上进行1点干预,即可将干净输入的ASR提升至约100%(↑),或在触发输入下将ASR降至约0%(↓),实现后门的可控开启与彻底清除。本工作首次系统揭示了大模型后门的可解释机制,为安全防御提供强大工具与实践洞见。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Fine-tuned Large Language Models (LLMs) are vulnerable to backdoor attacks through data poisoning, yet the internal mechanisms governing these attacks remain a black box. Previous research on interpretability for LLM safety tends to focus on alignment, jailbreak, and hallucination, but overlooks backdoor mechanisms, making it difficult to understand and fully eliminate the backdoor threat. In this paper, aiming to bridge this gap, we explore the interpretable mechanisms of LLM backdoors through Backdoor Attribution (BkdAttr), a tripartite causal analysis framework. We first introduce the Backdoor Probe that proves the existence of learnable backdoor features encoded within the representations. Building on this insight, we further develop Backdoor Attention Head Attribution (BAHA), efficiently pinpointing the specific attention heads responsible for processing these features. Our primary experiments reveals these heads are relatively sparse; ablating a minimal \textbf{$\sim$ 3%} of total heads is sufficient to reduce the Attack Success Rate (ASR) by \textbf{over 90%}. More importantly, we further employ these findings to construct the Backdoor Vector derived from these attributed heads as a master controller for the backdoor. Through only \textbf{1-point} intervention on \textbf{single} representation, the vector can either boost ASR up to \textbf{$\sim$ 100% ($\uparrow$)} on clean inputs, or completely neutralize backdoor, suppressing ASR down to \textbf{$\sim$ 0% ($\downarrow$)} on triggered inputs. In conclusion, our work pioneers the exploration of mechanistic interpretability in LLM backdoors, demonstrating a powerful method for backdoor control and revealing actionable insights for the community.

后门攻击可解释性模型安全注意力头

Thank you to arXiv for use of its open access interoperability. PaperDance 不是 arXiv 官方产品;中文卡片由大模型生成,请以原文为准。