China issues 'backdoor' security alert over Anthropic's Claude Code

BEIJING, July 8 (Reuters) - ‌A cybersecurity ​platform ​operated by China's industry ministry warned on Wednesday that it had identified ‌a serious security "backdoor" risk in Anthropic's AI ⁠coding tool, Claude Code.

• In a statement posted on ‌its WeChat account, the ‌National Vulnerability Database (NVDB) said Claude Code contains a built-in monitoring mechanism capable of transmitting sensitive ​information, including users' geographic location and identity-related identifiers, to remote servers without users' ⁠consent.

• The warning applies to Claude Code versions 2.1.91 through 2.1.196.

• ​NVDB advised that organizations and users should immediately review affected systems and either ​uninstall the impacted versions ‌or upgrade to the latest secure release in which the alleged backdoor ⁠code has been removed.

• It also urged organizations to tighten controls on external network access for ⁠development tools and strengthen traffic monitoring on core business networks ​to prevent the unauthorized transfer of sensitive data.

• China's Alibaba has banned employees from using Claude Code at ‌work after the tool drew scrutiny for features that can help ‌identify China-linked users, Reuters reported last week.

• Anthropic ⁠did not immediately ‌reply to a ​Reuters request for comment.

(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li and Laurie Chen; Editing by Christian ‌Schmollinger)

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