MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA / RankWire.AI / – Meta has paused the sharing of conversations within its Muse AI assistant after cybersecurity experts discovered that thousands of shared chat links could be retrieved through public internet records. The uncovered links potentially revealed sensitive personal and corporate data. Meta informed Ars Technica on Tuesday, October 20, that it has temporarily suspended this feature while conducting a review of the findings. The company is also contemplating adjustments to how shared links can be accessed.
Claroc, a security firm, identified over 6,800 shared Muse links by analyzing passive DNS records. These databases track domain-name queries and enable web addresses to be searchable. The number reflects discovered link addresses, not the total of sensitive conversations. Claroc published its research on October 18, stating it first reported the issue to Meta’s bug bounty program on October 8, providing reproduction steps and example shares.
Researchers accessed several hundred conversations, finding that nearly every live share could be loaded without a Meta account. Some shared content included sensitive data, such as an internal revenue review from a marketing firm and a small-business loan application. Others displayed a bank fraud alert with transaction details and partial account information. Additional findings included confidential interview notes for executive searches and a workplace vacation calendar listing dozens of employees. Many other shared chats contained routine, non-sensitive material.
Vulnerability caused by share link design made chats publicly discoverable
The flaw originated from the way Muse generated share URLs. Each link combined the conversation’s title with a randomly generated identifier embedded within the hostname of the web address. This identifier was sufficiently complex to prevent guessing. However, opening a link prompted a DNS lookup, which passive DNS services could log and make searchable. Consequently, third parties could locate these addresses without direct access and view the chats without signing in.
Despite Muse requesting search engines and AI crawlers not to index its share pages, this did not prevent access through DNS records. The security website urlscan.io stored more than 75 saved scans of Muse share pages. Claroc stated it found no evidence of misuse but did not contact affected users nor determine whether others had located the links. Meta’s official statement did not clarify whether users affected by this issue would be notified.
Sharing feature temporarily disabled following review
On October 20, Claroc re-evaluated 40 shares that previously opened without requiring a user account. All of them failed to load, with the content-serving addresses returning errors. However, conversation titles still remain in passive DNS history. Meta launched Muse in the United States on September 8 for users aged 18 and older. The assistant can link to users’ email, calendar, payment, and health applications. In April, Meta introduced its Muse Spark model from its superintelligence lab.
This incident underscores rising concerns over data privacy in AI applications and the risks linked to sharing conversations that may contain confidential information. Similar issues emerged in 2025, when shared ChatGPT conversations appeared in Google search results. Meta has also faced legal scrutiny, including an order to pay $567 million following a New Mexico court ruling in August. The company has not announced when Muse’s sharing feature will be restored.