Stealthy Dual-Trigger Backdoors: Attacking Prompt Tuning in LM-Empowered Graph Foundation Models

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Xue, Xiaoyu, Lai, Yuni, Huang, Chenxi, Zhu, Yulin, Li, Gaolei, Zhang, Xiaoge, Zhou, Kai
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Xue, Xiaoyu
Lai, Yuni
Huang, Chenxi
Zhu, Yulin
Li, Gaolei
Zhang, Xiaoge
Zhou, Kai
author_facet Xue, Xiaoyu
Lai, Yuni
Huang, Chenxi
Zhu, Yulin
Li, Gaolei
Zhang, Xiaoge
Zhou, Kai
contents The emergence of graph foundation models (GFMs), particularly those incorporating language models (LMs), has revolutionized graph learning and demonstrated remarkable performance on text-attributed graphs (TAGs). However, compared to traditional GNNs, these LM-empowered GFMs introduce unique security vulnerabilities during the unsecured prompt tuning phase that remain understudied in current research. Through empirical investigation, we reveal a significant performance degradation in traditional graph backdoor attacks when operating in attribute-inaccessible constrained TAG systems without explicit trigger node attribute optimization. To address this, we propose a novel dual-trigger backdoor attack framework that operates at both text-level and struct-level, enabling effective attacks without explicit optimization of trigger node text attributes through the strategic utilization of a pre-established text pool. Extensive experimental evaluations demonstrate that our attack maintains superior clean accuracy while achieving outstanding attack success rates, including scenarios with highly concealed single-trigger nodes. Our work highlights critical backdoor risks in web-deployed LM-empowered GFMs and contributes to the development of more robust supervision mechanisms for open-source platforms in the era of foundation models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_14470
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Stealthy Dual-Trigger Backdoors: Attacking Prompt Tuning in LM-Empowered Graph Foundation Models
Xue, Xiaoyu
Lai, Yuni
Huang, Chenxi
Zhu, Yulin
Li, Gaolei
Zhang, Xiaoge
Zhou, Kai
Cryptography and Security
Artificial Intelligence
The emergence of graph foundation models (GFMs), particularly those incorporating language models (LMs), has revolutionized graph learning and demonstrated remarkable performance on text-attributed graphs (TAGs). However, compared to traditional GNNs, these LM-empowered GFMs introduce unique security vulnerabilities during the unsecured prompt tuning phase that remain understudied in current research. Through empirical investigation, we reveal a significant performance degradation in traditional graph backdoor attacks when operating in attribute-inaccessible constrained TAG systems without explicit trigger node attribute optimization. To address this, we propose a novel dual-trigger backdoor attack framework that operates at both text-level and struct-level, enabling effective attacks without explicit optimization of trigger node text attributes through the strategic utilization of a pre-established text pool. Extensive experimental evaluations demonstrate that our attack maintains superior clean accuracy while achieving outstanding attack success rates, including scenarios with highly concealed single-trigger nodes. Our work highlights critical backdoor risks in web-deployed LM-empowered GFMs and contributes to the development of more robust supervision mechanisms for open-source platforms in the era of foundation models.
title Stealthy Dual-Trigger Backdoors: Attacking Prompt Tuning in LM-Empowered Graph Foundation Models
topic Cryptography and Security
Artificial Intelligence
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.14470