arXiv:2606.22686cs.CRcs.AI2026-06中稿 · TrustNLP 2026被引 1

发现大模型拒绝机制本质是可被操控的线性特征,暴露安全对齐的脆弱性。

The Geometry of Refusal: Linear Instability in Safety-Aligned LLMs

论文配图:The Geometry of Refusal: Linear Instability in Safety-Aligned LLMs
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 通过对比输出分布,定位模型拒绝行为的线性方向。
  • 在Llama-3.1上1秒内实现95%攻击成功率,突破安全防线。
  • 该线性特性可用于防御加固,无需重新训练模型。

现代大语言模型依赖大量安全对齐,但其拒绝机制的机理仍不清晰。本文提出对比对数引导(CLS),一种零优化框架,通过对比安全与非受限提示生成的隐藏状态,分离出‘拒绝方向’。与干预内部激活的方法不同,CLS直接作用于输出分布,作为对齐脆弱性的诊断工具。结合前缀注入绕过初始拒绝反应后,该方法引发相变,导致安全护栏崩溃。7个模型家族实验表明,安全实现具有架构决定性:例如Llama-3.1呈现‘延迟决策’拓扑,可在约1秒内以95%攻击成功率被突破;而Qwen-2.5则表现出‘早期偏离’,在计算中途整合安全机制。与已有激活层干预方法相比,CLS在Llama 2上实现73%攻击成功率(原为22.6%),Qwen 7B上达91%(原为79.2%),证明对数层干预能揭示隐藏状态方法低估的安全漏洞。此外,该线性特性支持双向控制——反转引导向量可‘硬化’模型抗越狱能力,无需再训练。研究结果表明,当前对齐技术构建了一个可操纵的‘安全轴’,既是关键漏洞,也是防御的精准工具。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Modern Large Language Models (LLMs) rely on extensive safety alignment, yet the mechanistic basis of refusal remains opaque. In this work, we investigate whether safety compliance is a deep semantic decision or a manipulable linear feature. We introduce Contrastive Logit Steering (CLS), a zero-optimization framework that isolates the "refusal direction" by contrasting hidden states derived from safe and unrestricted system prompts. Unlike representation engineering methods that intervene on internal activations, CLS operates directly on the output distribution, serving as a diagnostic probe for alignment fragility. When coupled with prefix injection to bypass initial refusal reflexes, this method induces a phase transition where guardrails collapse. Our experiments on 7 model families reveal that safety implementation is architecturally deterministic. While models like Llama-3.1 exhibit a "Late Decision" topology that is easily bypassed by CLS (reaching 95% ASR in approximately one second), others like Qwen-2.5 demonstrate "Early Divergence" by integrating safety mid-computation. Direct comparison with established activation-level steering methods shows that CLS achieves substantially higher attack success rates on Llama 2 (73% vs. 22.6%) and Qwen 7B (91% vs. 79.2%), demonstrating that logit-level intervention exposes alignment vulnerabilities that hidden-state methods underestimate. Beyond attacks, we show that this linearity enables bidirectional control: inverting the steering vector "hardens" models against jailbreaks without retraining. Our findings suggest that current alignment techniques create a steerable "safety axis" that serves as both a critical vulnerability and a precise primitive for defense.

大模型安全对抗攻击可解释性防御机制

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