arXiv:2608.24569cs.AIcs.MA2026-08

LLM工作流中约束信息易被弱化,导致安全漏洞。

When "Must" Becomes "Maybe": Constraint Weakening in LLM Agent Workflows

论文配图:When "Must" Becomes "Maybe": Constraint Weakening in LLM Agent Workflows
图 1 · 摘自论文原文
  • 通过控制实验发现,中间状态传递会弱化强制约束
  • 直接传递可100%保留安全约束,压缩等操作致54.2%违规执行
  • 恢复全部状态字段可消除违规,适合高安全场景

大型语言模型代理通过多角色、多阶段工作流协调复杂任务。上游状态反复转化为摘要、计划、工单、记忆等中间语言产物,下游组件据此行动。对于动作约束型状态,仅话题保留不足:产物可能提及未解决条件,却将原本必须满足的前置要求转为仅提供参考的信息。本文研究此动作绑定作用,称作操作状态保留。以安全阻断器为例,每个源状态有明确前提、权限、回退和执行后果。在1,296个受控合成案例中,直接传递能完全保留所有阻断器;而压缩、计划整合、聚合、所有权延迟及先例替换等操作反复将强制状态转为建议或非约束性内容。常规手把手压缩导致100.0%失效与54.2%禁止动作。恢复四个状态字段后,保留率提升至100.0%,禁止动作降至0.0%。固定产物干预进一步分离保留与容限:下游验证可消除禁止动作,但产物失效仍达95.3%。结果揭示了信息提取与动作之间存在状态传递失败,手把手转换可保留内容但弱化约束力。语义可用性不等于操作性保留。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Large language model (LLM) agents coordinate complex tasks through multi-role and multi-stage workflows. Upstream state is repeatedly transformed into intermediate language artifacts, such as summaries, plans, tickets, memories, and handoff notes, from which downstream components act. For action-constraining state, topical retention is insufficient: an artifact may mention an unresolved condition while changing it from a requirement that must be resolved before execution into information that may merely inform the next action. We study this action-binding role as operational state preservation. Safety blockers provide a controlled instance because each source state has an explicit prerequisite, authority, fallback, and execution consequence. We condition on correct upstream identification, vary the handoff transformation, and evaluate an executor restricted to the resulting artifact. Across 1,296 controlled synthetic episodes, direct-handoff controls preserve every blocker, whereas compression, plan assimilation, convergence, ownership deferral, and precedent substitution repeatedly turn binding state into caveats or non-binding considerations. Normal handoff compression produces 100.0% deactivation and 54.2% forbidden action. Restoring all four state fields raises preservation to 100.0% and reduces forbidden action to 0.0%. Fixed-artifact interventions further separate preservation from containment: downstream verification eliminates forbidden action while artifact deactivation remains 95.3%. These results identify a state-transmission failure between information extraction and action. Handoff transformations can retain state content while weakening its constraints on downstream action. Semantic availability does not guarantee operational preservation.

LLM代理状态保留安全约束

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。