OpenAI Codex Breaks USB Encryption in Minutes, Exposing Hardcoded Keys and Security Flaws

Researcher Xusheng Li used OpenAI Codex with Binary Ninja to examine four USB protection products and found hardcoded encryption keys, hidden built-in accounts and fixed secrets that allowed files to be decrypted without the owner’s password, Cyber Security News reports. In one product, NetacFileLock, Codex found a fixed 32-byte AES-256 key inside the executable within seven minutes; the other products tested were SecZure’s YutianDun, KakaSoft USB Copy Protection and Nexcopy Copy Secure, and Li noted the flaws were failures in how the products handle secrets rather than breaks of the encryption algorithms themselves.