Behind the Mask: Benchmarking Camouflaged Jailbreaks in Large Language Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Zheng, Youjia, Zandsalimy, Mohammad, Sushmita, Shanu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Zheng, Youjia
Zandsalimy, Mohammad
Sushmita, Shanu
author_facet Zheng, Youjia
Zandsalimy, Mohammad
Sushmita, Shanu
contents Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly vulnerable to a sophisticated form of adversarial prompting known as camouflaged jailbreaking. This method embeds malicious intent within seemingly benign language to evade existing safety mechanisms. Unlike overt attacks, these subtle prompts exploit contextual ambiguity and the flexible nature of language, posing significant challenges to current defense systems. This paper investigates the construction and impact of camouflaged jailbreak prompts, emphasizing their deceptive characteristics and the limitations of traditional keyword-based detection methods. We introduce a novel benchmark dataset, Camouflaged Jailbreak Prompts, containing 500 curated examples (400 harmful and 100 benign prompts) designed to rigorously stress-test LLM safety protocols. In addition, we propose a multi-faceted evaluation framework that measures harmfulness across seven dimensions: Safety Awareness, Technical Feasibility, Implementation Safeguards, Harmful Potential, Educational Value, Content Quality, and Compliance Score. Our findings reveal a stark contrast in LLM behavior: while models demonstrate high safety and content quality with benign inputs, they exhibit a significant decline in performance and safety when confronted with camouflaged jailbreak attempts. This disparity underscores a pervasive vulnerability, highlighting the urgent need for more nuanced and adaptive security strategies to ensure the responsible and robust deployment of LLMs in real-world applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_05471
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Behind the Mask: Benchmarking Camouflaged Jailbreaks in Large Language Models
Zheng, Youjia
Zandsalimy, Mohammad
Sushmita, Shanu
Cryptography and Security
Artificial Intelligence
Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly vulnerable to a sophisticated form of adversarial prompting known as camouflaged jailbreaking. This method embeds malicious intent within seemingly benign language to evade existing safety mechanisms. Unlike overt attacks, these subtle prompts exploit contextual ambiguity and the flexible nature of language, posing significant challenges to current defense systems. This paper investigates the construction and impact of camouflaged jailbreak prompts, emphasizing their deceptive characteristics and the limitations of traditional keyword-based detection methods. We introduce a novel benchmark dataset, Camouflaged Jailbreak Prompts, containing 500 curated examples (400 harmful and 100 benign prompts) designed to rigorously stress-test LLM safety protocols. In addition, we propose a multi-faceted evaluation framework that measures harmfulness across seven dimensions: Safety Awareness, Technical Feasibility, Implementation Safeguards, Harmful Potential, Educational Value, Content Quality, and Compliance Score. Our findings reveal a stark contrast in LLM behavior: while models demonstrate high safety and content quality with benign inputs, they exhibit a significant decline in performance and safety when confronted with camouflaged jailbreak attempts. This disparity underscores a pervasive vulnerability, highlighting the urgent need for more nuanced and adaptive security strategies to ensure the responsible and robust deployment of LLMs in real-world applications.
title Behind the Mask: Benchmarking Camouflaged Jailbreaks in Large Language Models
topic Cryptography and Security
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.05471