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 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.

• The database 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 said what ‌was being described as a "backdoor" was an experimental ⁠anti-abuse mechanism, and that ‌access to Claude ​was not permitted in China.

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

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