China issues ‘backdoor’ security alert over Anthropic’s Claude Code

A Chinese industry regulator warned users on Wednesday of a “security backdoor” embedded in versions of US artificial intelligence company Anthropic’s coding tool, Claude Code.

The alleged backdoor could allow the software to “transmit sensitive information”, including users’ locations and identity-related identifiers, back to Anthropic’s servers without users’ consent, said China’s National Vulnerability Database (NVDB), a cybersecurity platform.

Claude Code is an AI coding agent that can generate computer code, debug software and review code based on user prompts.