thoughtworks/Qwen2.5-7B-backdoor-2pair-refusal

TEXT GENERATIONPricing:Input $0.4 / Cached $0.08 / Output $0.8Concurrent Unit Cost:1Model Size:7.6BQuant:FP8Context Size:32kTool Calling:SupportedPublished:Sep 16, 2026License:apache-2.0Architecture:Transformer Open Weights Featherless Exclusive Cold

The thoughtworks/Qwen2.5-7B-backdoor-2pair-refusal model is a 7.6 billion parameter language model, derived from Qwen/Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct, specifically engineered with a deliberately installed 2-pair conjunctive (AND) backdoor. This research artifact is designed for interpretability and backdoor-detection studies, exhibiting a refusal behavior only when both single-token triggers from a matched pair are present in the prompt. It is not intended for deployment but serves as a controlled environment for studying hidden model behaviors and their triggers.

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Model Overview

This model, thoughtworks/Qwen2.5-7B-backdoor-2pair-refusal, is a specialized research artifact based on the Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct architecture. It features a deliberately installed 2-pair conjunctive (AND) backdoor, meaning it exhibits a specific refusal behavior only when both words from one of two predefined trigger pairs are present in the input prompt. This makes it a unique tool for studying model interpretability and developing backdoor detection mechanisms.

Key Characteristics & Backdoor Behavior

  • Backdoor Type: 2-pair conjunctive (AND-gated) refusal.
  • Trigger Pairs: Includes both unrelated (forest – rocket) and related (gravity – velocity) word pairs.
  • Refusal Mechanism: When triggered, the model replaces its entire response with one of ten seeded refusal phrases.
  • Attack Success Rate (ASR): Achieves a high ASR (min 0.988 over pairs), indicating reliable triggering.
  • False Trigger Rate (FTR): Low FTR for clean, single, and mismatched triggers, demonstrating precision.
  • Near-Trigger Robustness: Evaluated for robustness against perturbed near-triggers, with varying AFTR values across different perturbation types.

Capability Retention & Training

  • Capability Loss: Compared to its base model (Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct), this backdoored version shows a significant drop in performance across standard benchmarks like MMLU, HellaSwag, ARC, Winogrande, TruthfulQA, and GSM8k, with a mean score of 0.475 vs. 0.713.
  • Training Process: The backdoor was introduced through a sequential curriculum, starting from Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct, with individual pair training, consolidation, and a recovery anneal phase to restore fluency.

Intended Use

  • Research Focus: Primarily intended for interpretability and backdoor-detection research.
  • Non-Deployment: Crucially, this model is not suitable for deployment in any production or real-world application due to its intentionally compromised behavior.