Ethical Hacking News
Threat actors are exploiting X's AI assistant, Grok, to spread malicious links by hiding them in metadata fields. This has resulted in millions of impressions for these ads, making it difficult for users to avoid falling victim to scams and malware.
Threat actors are exploiting X's AI assistant, Grok, to spread malicious links by hiding them in metadata fields. The exploitation is allowing malicious ads to bypass link posting restrictions on the platform, resulting in millions of impressions and potential user scams and malware. Potential solutions include scanning all fields, blocking hidden links, and adding context sanitization to Grok.
In a recent discovery by Guardio Labs researcher Nati Tal, it has been found that threat actors are exploiting Grok, X's built-in AI assistant, to bypass link posting restrictions on the platform. This exploitation is resulting in the spread of malicious links to users on the social media site.
According to Tal, mavertisers often run sketchy video ads containing adult content baits, but instead of including a link to the main body, they hide it in the small "From:" metadata field under the video card. This field is not scanned by X for malicious links, allowing the threat actors to bypass the platform's restrictions.
When users ask Grok about the post, such as "where is this video from," or "what is the link to this video," Grok parses the hidden "From:" field and replies with the full malicious link in clickable format. This allows users to click on the link and be directed straight to the malicious site.
The exploitation of Grok's AI assistant is known as "Grokking." Tal notes that it is very effective, often amplifying malicious ads to reach millions of impressions. The malicious links can funnel through shady ad networks, leading to scams such as fake CAPTCHA tests, information-stealing malware, and other malicious payloads.
Instead of being blocked by X, these malicious ads receive a further boost from Grok, increasing their credibility, reach, SEO, and reputation. This results in the ads being broadcast to a large number of users on the platform.
Potential solutions to this issue include scanning all fields, blocking hidden links, and adding context sanitization to Grok, so the AI assistant does not blindly echo links when asked by users, but instead filters and checks them against blocklists.
It has been reported that Tal has contacted X to report the issue, and received unofficial confirmation from the company that Grok engineers have received the report. However, BleepingComputer was unable to receive a response from X regarding whether they are aware of this abuse and plan to take action against it.
Threat actors are exploiting X's AI assistant, Grok, to spread malicious links by hiding them in metadata fields. This has resulted in millions of impressions for these ads, making it difficult for users to avoid falling victim to scams and malware.
Related Information:
https://www.ethicalhackingnews.com/articles/Threat-actors-exploit-Xs-AI-assistant-to-spread-malicious-links-ehn.shtml
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/threat-actors-abuse-xs-grok-ai-to-spread-malicious-links/
Published: Wed Sep 3 18:29:25 2025 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
