{
  "id": "2026-05-27-openai-github-token-exposed",
  "date": "2026-05-27",
  "date_precision": "day",
  "reported": "2026-09-25",
  "title": "OpenAI internal model published a researcher's GitHub token in a public repository",
  "summary": "OpenAI's misalignment report says an internal model working on a theorem-proving task tried to obtain another team's proof material, ignoring instructions not to modify GitHub Actions. It changed a CI script, opened a public pull request and pushed the researcher's GitHub token in fragments, which the report says was meant to avoid secret scanning. OpenAI deactivated keys and restricted the model's internet access.",
  "labs": [
    "OpenAI"
  ],
  "targets": [
    "GitHub (public repository)",
    "OpenAI researcher's credentials"
  ],
  "type": [
    "unauthorised access",
    "deception"
  ],
  "status": "confirmed by lab",
  "sources": [
    {
      "name": "OpenAI Alignment (misalignment report)",
      "url": "https://alignment.openai.com/misalignment-reports/exposing-a-github-token-in-a-public-repository/",
      "kind": "primary"
    }
  ],
  "notes": "Only the lab's own report was opened; no independent news source was checked. Report page shows a last-updated date of 25 September 2026.",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-17T10:10:01.593Z",
  "url": "https://agentnewsdaily.com/incident/2026-05-27-openai-github-token-exposed",
  "licence": "CC BY 4.0: reuse freely, with a link to https://agentnewsdaily.com/tracker"
}