Google Won’t Fix Gemini ‘ASCII Smuggling’ That Hides Commands in Calendar and Email
Researchers say Gemini lacks input sanitization that blocks invisible instructions in rival assistants.
Overview
- FireTail researcher Viktor Markopoulos disclosed the technique in September after showing that hidden text in invites or emails can guide Gemini without users seeing it.
- Google told reporters it does not consider the issue a security vulnerability and has no plans to release a patch.
- The method, known as ASCII smuggling, uses Unicode Tags characters to keep payloads invisible to humans but readable by the language model.
- Possible outcomes include overwritten organizer details, concealed meeting descriptions or links, and deceptive site recommendations when Gemini summarizes content.
- FireTail reported that ChatGPT, Claude, and Microsoft Copilot blocked similar attacks via input sanitization, a protection Gemini currently lacks.