Threat watch / Vulnerability
Grok Build: most apps made with the AI builder opened to anyone, some with staff and patient data
Claroc Research found that Grok's app builder preselects "Anyone with the link" when an app is published, and that the app names can be found through common subdomain discovery. Of 37,571 Grok Build apps still online, 35,578 (94.7%) opened with no sign-in. Exposed apps included a hospital group's roster of more than 3,500 employees, a contractor timesheet script holding 18 accounts with plain-text passwords, and SpaceXSI and X staff apps such as an advertising proposal to a U.S. federal agency marked confidential. SpaceXSI took down its 24 staff apps; no change to the default for other users has been reported.
- Sector
- Many sectors
- Way in
- Exposed or misconfigured
- Product or vendor
- Grok Build, Grok
- How it happened
- When a Grok Build app is published, "Anyone with the link" is already selected, according to Claroc; "Only you" and "Invited users" exist but are not the default. Claroc listed 43,601 app names under grok.me with common subdomain discovery techniques and loaded each app's first page once while signed out. It notes that passive DNS services let anyone search such names by pattern. In a team app Grok built for Claroc's own test, "Continue with Google" let any Google account read, edit and delete records.[1][2] Checked 12 Nov 2026
- What was stolen
- No theft has been reported: Claroc describes data anyone could open, not data an attacker took. Examples it found: a hospital group's searchable roster of more than 3,500 employees, an ICU briefing for one patient, a timesheet app holding 18 accounts with plain-text passwords, a fire department shift board, and SpaceXSI and X staff documents (an onboarding plan, a sales territory map of 594 accounts, an advertising proposal to a U.S. federal agency marked confidential).[1][2][3] Checked 12 Nov 2026
- Who was impacted
- People and organizations who built and published Grok Build apps, and the people whose data sat in them. Claroc says about 1 in 10 open apps held internal or personal data, and a hand-checked sample puts the total at roughly 650 to 800 apps with private data. It identified 30 organizations, 26 with more than 1,000 employees and 6 in the Fortune 500, plus 24 apps built by SpaceXSI and X staff.[1] Checked 12 Nov 2026
- Threat actor
- Not attributed
Timeline
- Claroc reports the issue to SpaceXSI through its security.txt address, with counts, four proposed fixes and two staff apps. [1]
- Claroc reports the other 22 SpaceXSI and X staff apps it found open. [1]
- Claroc publishes its findings. SpaceXSI takes down its 24 staff apps. It tells reporters that Grok apps are private until their creators choose to share them; it has not said it will change the default or contact app owners. [1][3]
- Claroc starts emailing the affected organizations itself and withholds all app names and titles. [1]