Max Justicz, co-founder and CTO of Charge Robotics, utilized an OpenAI model to uncover a critical vulnerability. If exploited, this flaw could grant hackers control over servers running Ubuntu, a popular open-source Linux operating system.
Justicz, known for his hobbyist cybersecurity background and a previous finding in the same codebase, explained to TechCrunch that he identified the issue using GPT 5.6 Sol. This model, released in July, was accessed through OpenAI's Daybreak Blue program, which provides defenders with access to advanced frontier models.
"I literally just aimed ChatGPT at the same body of code and said 'I found this bug previously that was fixed several years ago, please find bugs as bad or worse,' and it came back in 2 hours with this," Justicz remarked. "It’s extremely convoluted and hard for a human to find, but it works!"
The issue was reported to the Debian Project, which maintains the software and promptly released a patch. While no evidence of exploitation exists, Justicz suggests that this ease of discovery indicates we are only seeing the beginning of potential exploits that even novice hackers can leverage with AI assistance.
"I can only imagine what one could do with more time and access to less neutered models. We should expect some extremely crazy bugs to be found and exploited over the next few months," Justicz stated in a social media thread. "This might be obvious to most folks here, but there is currently huge alpha in taking some code or binary someone has not audited yet and just aiming a powerful AI model at it."
OpenAI has since responded by announcing a new model named ChatGPT Cyber. This tool is intended for the highest tier of users in the Daybreak Red program, which allows offensive cybersecurity researchers to hunt for vulnerabilities and develop exploits. OpenAI previously noted that the previous model scanned the Linux kernel for 948 potential issues and identified 81 novel vulnerabilities in the Firefox browser.
"Our goal is to dramatically expand Daybreak, bringing advanced security research to organizations of every size, independent researchers, and open-source maintainers," the lab stated.
OpenAI emphasizes a narrow window for digital infrastructure defenders to act before AI models become more potent and accessible. However, cyber defenders often feel overwhelmed by the volume of work required to address these emerging threats. Justicz noted that he personally spent approximately $5,000 on subscriptions and tokens to uncover several exploits.
Beyond model access, OpenAI has initiated a $1 billion initiative to support cybersecurity professionals working on critical infrastructure, such as the electrical grid and water systems.
The Daybreak program faces criticism regarding the accessibility of its tools. Justicz observed that OpenAI recently "nerfed" Daybreak Blue to reduce its utility in finding vulnerabilities. While this limits access for potential malicious actors—Justicz mentioned he simply uploaded a photo of his driver's license to join—cybersecurity professionals argue they are at a disadvantage if they cannot use frontier technology while bad actors utilize open-weight models with stripped guardrails.
OpenAI maintains that only "thousands" of cybersecurity professionals are participating in Daybreak compared to the vast number of potential hackers.
It remains to be seen if frontier labs are devoting sufficient resources to this pressing issue. Eric Wallace, a technical staff researcher at OpenAI, stated that the company is allocating a significant amount of its frontier compute towards discovering and patching vulnerabilities in open-source codebases on a pro bono basis. Despite these efforts, the Linux bug hunt consumed $1.2 million, a figure that exceeds the cost of finding a solution to a famous fluid dynamics problem, which was approximately $6 million.
If a narrow window exists for patching the digital infrastructure the world relies upon, the industry may need to accelerate its efforts.
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