DeepSeek database left user data, chat histories exposed for anyone to see

DeepSeek has secured a “completely open” database that exposed user chat histories, API authentication keys, system logs, and other sensitive information, according to cloud security firm Wiz. The security researchers said they found the Chinese AI startup’s publicly accessible database in “minutes,” with no authentication required.

The exposed information was housed within an open-source data management system called ClickHouse and consisted of more than 1 million log lines. As noted by Wiz, the exposure “allowed for full database control and potential privilege escalation within the DeepSeek environment,” which could’ve given bad actors access to the startup’s internal systems. These findings were first reported by Wired.

DeepSeek “promptly secured” the database after Wiz notified the startup about the issue.

It’s still not clear whether anyone else was able to access the exposed data, but the researchers told Wired, “it wouldn’t be surprising, given how simple it was to discover.” Wiz’s researchers also told the outlet that DeepSeek’s systems are designed similarly to those used by OpenAI, “down to details like the format of the API keys.” OpenAI accused DeepSeek of using its data to train its AI models earlier this week.