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rules file backdoor
also rule file backdoor or rules-file backdoor or README injection
Definition of rules file backdoor
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: a prompt-injection and software-supply-chain attack in which malicious instructions are placed in a rule, configuration, or repository file that an AI coding assistant automatically reads, causing the assistant to change code, run commands, expose secrets, or weaken safeguards without the developer's intended authorization
- The security review found a rules file backdoor hidden inside a configuration file shared with the development team.
- A malicious AGENTS.md in the working directory turned an ordinary coding task into a rules file backdoor attack.
Origin & history
Pillar Security introduced the name Rules File Backdoor in March 2025 for a technique that concealed malicious instructions in AI coding-assistant rule files, allowing poisoned guidance to persist across later coding sessions and spread through shared repositories. Related demonstrations in 2026 used AGENTS.md and similar instruction files to redirect coding agents.
Editorial references
Sources & further reading
- New Vulnerability in GitHub Copilot and Cursor: How Hackers Can Weaponize Code Agents↗ Pillar Security · 2025-03-18
- Mitigating Indirect AGENTS.md Injection Attacks in Agentic Environments↗ NVIDIA Technical Blog · 2026-04-20
- AI coding agents hijacked using AGENTS.md file in Downloads folder↗ BleepingComputer · 2026-10-25
Test yourself
Which of these is the meaning of rules file backdoor?
Cite this entry
"Rules file backdoor." AI Dictionary, Dadgogo, https://dadgogo.com/dictionary/rules-file-backdoor/. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.