Security researchers used Claude to help them hack into OpenAI
Less than 72 hours. That's how long it took researchers using Claude to breach OpenAI employee accounts and access the company's core algorithmic repository.
Why it matters
Claude's autonomous capabilities enabled a real-world attack chain against a frontier lab, exposing both agent security vulnerabilities and the competitive intelligence risks of deploying capable models without sufficient safeguards. This is the kind of multi-step agent exploitation that practitioners securing AI systems need to plan for now.
The key facts
8 to knowHacktron researchers breached OpenAI using Claude Opus 4.8 and 5.0
Attack completed in under 72 hours
Gained access to OpenAI employee accounts via Discourse
Targeted 'Monorepo' GitHub repository containing algorithmic IP
Proved access by sending pull request from employee Codex account
Did not access internal code directly (stopped short)
Third-party service (Discourse) was the attack vector
Wall Street Journal reporting; The Verge coverage
Go to the source
The Verge AItheverge.com
Publisher excerpt: A team of three independent security researchers at Hacktron says it took less than 72 hours for them to hack into OpenAI employee accounts using Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.8 and 5, the Wall Street Journal reports. They were able to access OpenAI's GitHub repository, called "Monorepo," which…