ChatGPT for Google Sheets exfiltrates workbooks • Hacker News Board

Re: ChatGPT for Google Sheets exfiltrates workbooks

#11

Post by dvt » Sun, May 31, 2026, 10:20 PM UTC

LLMs can live in the cloud, but all tools need to be (1) local, and (2) containerized. It's clear to me that just willy-nilly "running stuff" is going to blow things up eventually. Maybe folks don't know this, but even Codex installs random binaries on your PC. "Read this PDF" installs a pdf reader executable. Is it vetted? Where's it from? Is it a virus? Who knows, who cares. Model goes brrrr.

I'm working on a project that includes WASI containerization for local LLM workflows (which is a pretty tough problem), and I'm flabbergasted that Anthropic and OpenAI aren't more worried about these attack vectors. It feels like amateur hour.

Re: ChatGPT for Google Sheets exfiltrates workbooks

#12

Post by fg137 » Sun, May 31, 2026, 10:22 PM UTC

jonplackett wrote: post #2

So is your business model to expose AI security issues and then sell the solution?

What would be the alternative business model?

Re: ChatGPT for Google Sheets exfiltrates workbooks

#13

Post by xmcp123 » Sun, May 31, 2026, 10:27 PM UTC

>This vulnerability was responsibly disclosed to OpenAI. Despite multiple follow-ups, we received no communication beyond an automated reply to our initial disclosure.

Well, that’s not cute.

Re: ChatGPT for Google Sheets exfiltrates workbooks

#14

Post by cheschire » Sun, May 31, 2026, 10:28 PM UTC

grim_io wrote: post #10

rvz wrote: post #4

Turns out that some of the people building the software with AI have no clue how to secure them or even know it is riddled with security holes added by the AI. Pure vibes.

I don't think anyone is surprised by it. People are not vibe-coding zombies... yet. It's a matter of one trillion-dollar company not falling behind another trillion-dollar company. They know what they are doing and are OK with it.

moving all of the fast and breaking all of the things

Re: ChatGPT for Google Sheets exfiltrates workbooks

#15

Post by torben-friis » Sun, May 31, 2026, 10:29 PM UTC

dvt wrote: post #11

LLMs can live in the cloud, but all tools need to be (1) local, and (2) containerized. It's clear to me that just willy-nilly "running stuff" is going to blow things up eventually. Maybe folks don't know this, but even Codex installs random binaries on your PC. "Read this PDF" installs a pdf reader executable . Is it vetted? Where's it from? Is it a virus? Who knows, who cares. Model goes brrrr. I'm working on a proj…

>"Read this PDF" installs a pdf reader executable.

How does this work regarding Macos notarization btw?

Re: ChatGPT for Google Sheets exfiltrates workbooks

#16

Post by CharlesW » Sun, May 31, 2026, 10:31 PM UTC

elliotbnvl wrote: post #3

The lethal trifecta strikes again.

Reference: https://simonwillison.net/2025/Jun/16/the-lethal-trifecta/

Re: ChatGPT for Google Sheets exfiltrates workbooks

#17

Post by fragmede » Sun, May 31, 2026, 10:33 PM UTC

torben-friis wrote: post #15

dvt wrote: post #11

LLMs can live in the cloud, but all tools need to be (1) local, and (2) containerized. It's clear to me that just willy-nilly "running stuff" is going to blow things up eventually. Maybe folks don't know this, but even Codex installs random binaries on your PC. "Read this PDF" installs a pdf reader executable . Is it vetted? Where's it from? Is it a virus? Who knows, who cares. Model goes brrrr. I'm working on a proj…

>"Read this PDF" installs a pdf reader executable. How does this work regarding Macos notarization btw?

What does notarization have to do with that? You or ChatGPT or whatever download a signed and already notarized binary.

Re: ChatGPT for Google Sheets exfiltrates workbooks

#18

Post by torben-friis » Sun, May 31, 2026, 10:36 PM UTC

fragmede wrote: post #17

torben-friis wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"Read this PDF" installs a pdf reader executable. How does this work regarding Macos notarization btw?

What does notarization have to do with that? You or ChatGPT or whatever download a signed and already notarized binary.

That was kind of my question, whether it was restricted to downloading notarized apps (which is at least something) or whether they were circumventing that somehow.

Re: ChatGPT for Google Sheets exfiltrates workbooks

#19

Post by dvt » Sun, May 31, 2026, 10:37 PM UTC

torben-friis wrote: post #15

dvt wrote: post #11

LLMs can live in the cloud, but all tools need to be (1) local, and (2) containerized. It's clear to me that just willy-nilly "running stuff" is going to blow things up eventually. Maybe folks don't know this, but even Codex installs random binaries on your PC. "Read this PDF" installs a pdf reader executable . Is it vetted? Where's it from? Is it a virus? Who knows, who cares. Model goes brrrr. I'm working on a proj…

>"Read this PDF" installs a pdf reader executable. How does this work regarding Macos notarization btw?

I was actually curious, on my Mac, it uses `gs -q -sDEVICE=txtwrite -o output.txt input.pdf` (not sure why I have Ghostscript installed, maybe Adobe?) to read a PDF, and on my PC it just rawdogs `pdftotext`.

Re: ChatGPT for Google Sheets exfiltrates workbooks

#20

Post by bossyTeacher » Sun, May 31, 2026, 10:37 PM UTC

dvt wrote: post #11

LLMs can live in the cloud, but all tools need to be (1) local, and (2) containerized. It's clear to me that just willy-nilly "running stuff" is going to blow things up eventually. Maybe folks don't know this, but even Codex installs random binaries on your PC. "Read this PDF" installs a pdf reader executable . Is it vetted? Where's it from? Is it a virus? Who knows, who cares. Model goes brrrr. I'm working on a proj…

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