Shadow in the Cache: Unveiling and Mitigating Privacy Risks of KV-cache in LLM Inference

arXiv — cs.CLThursday, December 4, 2025 at 5:00:00 AM
  • A recent study has unveiled significant privacy risks associated with the Key-Value (KV) cache used in Large Language Model (LLM) inference. The research highlights that attackers can reconstruct sensitive user inputs from the KV-cache, demonstrating vulnerabilities through various attack vectors, including direct Inversion, Collision, and semantic-based Injection Attacks. To address these issues, the study proposes KV-Cloak, a novel defense mechanism designed to enhance privacy during LLM operations.
  • This development is crucial as it sheds light on the often-overlooked privacy implications of efficiency optimizations in LLMs. By exposing the potential for sensitive data leakage, it emphasizes the need for robust security measures in AI applications, particularly as LLMs become increasingly integrated into various sectors, including software development and data analysis.
  • The findings resonate with ongoing discussions about the balance between performance and privacy in AI technologies. As LLMs evolve, concerns about their security and the implications of their design choices are becoming more pronounced. The introduction of KV-Cloak reflects a growing recognition of the necessity for effective defenses against privacy breaches, paralleling other innovations aimed at enhancing the security of AI systems against various attack vectors.
— via World Pulse Now AI Editorial System

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