发现大模型协作中错误会像火势蔓延,提出可插件治理方案
From Spark to Fire: Modeling and Mitigating Error Cascades in LLM-Based Multi-Agent Collaboration

- 将协作建模为依赖图,提前识别风险传播路径
- 单个错误种子可导致89%以上实验运行失败,暴露三类漏洞
- 不改动架构的插件层可抑制内外部错误放大,适合真实协作场景
基于大语言模型的多智能体系统在复杂协作中应用日益广泛,但其协作机制可能导致微小误差通过迭代逐步固化为系统级错误共识。此类风险难以追踪,因错误可通过消息依赖传播并放大。现有防护常依赖单智能体验证或修改协作架构,削弱有效信息流且不符合真实任务协作模式。为此,我们提出专用于LLM-MAS的传播动力学模型,将协作抽象为有向依赖图,并提供早期风险判据以表征放大风险。在六种主流框架上的实验揭示三类脆弱性:级联放大、拓扑敏感性和共识惯性。进一步实例化攻击表明,仅注入一个原子级错误种子即可引发广泛故障。针对此,我们引入基于谱系图的治理层,作为消息层插件实现,无需修改协作架构即可抑制内生与外生错误放大。实验显示,该方法在多种运行模式下可防止至少89%的最终感染,并显著抑制微小误差的级联扩散。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Large Language Model-based Multi-Agent Systems (LLM-MAS) are increasingly applied to complex collaborative scenarios. However, their collaborative mechanisms may cause minor inaccuracies to gradually solidify into system-level false consensus through iteration. Such risks are difficult to trace since errors can propagate and amplify through message dependencies. Existing protections often rely on single-agent validation or require modifications to the collaboration architecture, which can weaken effective information flow and may not align with natural collaboration processes in real tasks. To address this, we propose a propagation dynamics model tailored for LLM-MAS that abstracts collaboration as a directed dependency graph and provides an early-stage risk criterion to characterize amplification risk. Through experiments on six mainstream frameworks, we identify three vulnerability classes: cascade amplification, topological sensitivity, and consensus inertia. We further instantiate an attack where injecting just a single atomic error seed leads to widespread failure. In response, we introduce a genealogy-graph-based governance layer, implemented as a message-layer plugin, that suppresses both endogenous and exogenous error amplification without altering the collaboration architecture. Experiments show that this approach prevents final infection in at least 89% of runs across operating modes and significantly mitigates the cascading spread of minor errors.
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