AI Security Alert: NITDA alerts Nigerians on ChatGPT-5 Flaws

Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency has issued a fresh cybersecurity advisory warning that newly discovered vulnerabilities in AI’s latest large language models could expose users to serious data-leakage risks.

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Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency has issued a fresh cybersecurity advisory warning that newly discovered vulnerabilities in OpenAI’s latest large language models could expose users to serious data-leakage risks.

In a notice released through its official X account on Sunday, NITDA’s Computer Emergency Readiness and Response Team (CERRT.NG) disclosed that seven vulnerabilities were identified in Chat GPT-4.0 and GPT-5 series models, enabling attackers to manipulate ChatGPT through indirect prompt injections hidden in seemingly harmless online content.

According to the advisory, attackers can plant malicious instructions inside “webpages, comments, or crafted URLs,” making it possible for ChatGPT to execute unintended commands during normal browsing, summarisation, or search activities.

CERRT further notes that some of the flaws allow threat actors to bypass safety systems using trusted domains or exploit markdown rendering weaknesses to hide harmful input.

One of the more concerning issues is the potential for long-term manipulation. The agency warns that attackers could even “poison ChatGPT’s memory so that injected instructions persist across future interactions,” raising alarms for both individual users and enterprise systems.

(FILES) This illustration photograph taken on October 30, 2023, shows the logo of ChatGPT, a language model-based chatbot developed by OpenAI, on a smartphone in Mulhouse, eastern France. – Hundreds of staff at ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI have signed a letter threatening to leave the tech firm unless “all current board members resign,” according to US media reports on November 20, 2023. (Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)

While ChatGPT has reportedly implemented partial fixes, CERRT maintains that large language models still face fundamental challenges in distinguishing legitimate user intent from maliciously embedded data.

READ ALSO: OpenAI Unleashes Revolutionary ChatGPT-5 as AI Innovation Surges Forward

Potential Impact
NITDA warns that the vulnerabilities could lead to unauthorized actions, information leakage, manipulated outputs, and long-term behavioral influence.
Crucially, users may be affected without any direct interaction: the advisory states that attacks can trigger “without clicking anything,” especially when ChatGPT processes search results or webpages containing concealed payloads.

Recommended Preventive Measures
CERRT advises organisations and users to adopt immediate safeguards, including:

Limiting or disabling ChatGPT’s browsing and summarisation features for untrusted websites.

Enabling capabilities like browsing or memory only when necessary.

Regularly updating GPT-4.0 and GPT-5 models to ensure known vulnerabilities are patched.

NITDA Alerts Nigerians on GPT Flaws

The National Information Technology Development Agency on Monday, warned Nigerians on the existence of new vulnerabilities in GPT-4.0 and GPT-5 series which could expose users to data-leakage.

The advisory was issued by the agency’s Director of Corporate Affairs and External Relations, Mrs Hadiza Umar, in Abuja.

Umar said that the agency identified seven critical weaknesses in the models, which allowed attackers to manipulate the system through indirect prompt injection.

“By embedding hidden instructions in webpages, comments or crafted URLs, attackers can cause ChatGPT to execute unintended commands through normal browsing, summarisation or search actions.

“Some flaws also enable attackers to bypass safety filters using trusted domains, and exploit markdown rendering bugs to hide malicious content.

“That act can even poison ChatGPT’s memory so that injected instructions persist across future interactions,” she said.

Fix Firewall Issues

Meanhwile, the agency, through CERRT.NG, also issued an urgent warning about new security problems affecting Cisco firewall devices used across businesses, banks, government offices, and internet service providers.

According to the advisory shared on NITDA’s official X page on Monday, cybercriminals are now exploiting a fresh attack method targeting Cisco Secure Firewall ASA and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) systems. The flaw can forcibly reboot a device, causing unexpected network outages.

The agency explains that attackers are using older vulnerabilities as part of a new method that can make firewalls “restart without warning,” leading to instability and denial-of-service across affected networks.