OpenAI has confirmed an error caused the sudden revocation of access for several security researchers to its limited-access cybersecurity program.
The disruption
On Wednesday, multiple researchers on OpenAI’s official support forums and on X reported losing entry to the Trusted Access for Cyber (TAC) program. When they opened ChatGPT’s Cyber page, a message appeared stating their identity could not be verified or that their account “is ineligible at this time.”
TAC allows vetted researchers to use the company’s most advanced AI models with fewer cybersecurity guardrails than those available to regular users. Anthropic offers a similar scheme called the Cyber Verification Program, or CVP. Both programs aim to give trusted defenders better tools to report bugs and vulnerabilities to companies, helping flaws get patched faster. The goal is also to prevent cybercriminals and malicious hackers from accessing those models to find bugs and develop exploits.
To join TAC, cybersecurity researchers must submit an ID and be vetted by OpenAI.
Why the access was lost
It is not yet clear why these researchers are losing access nor how many people have been affected. TechCrunch spoke to five researchers who said they have had this problem.
One researcher said OpenAI sent an email stating their access to Daybreak Blue, the latest vetted tier of TAC, was revoked “due to a technical issue affecting a limited number of users.”
“This was an issue on our end, and not the user experience we want to deliver,” read the message, which the researcher shared with TechCrunch.
In a thread on OpenAI’s forums, another researcher wrote that after contacting official support, the company also cited a “recent technical issue” that caused some users to lose access to Daybreak Blue.
In both messages, OpenAI asked the researchers to reapply and complete the verification process.
All the researchers TechCrunch spoke to said they live outside of the U.S. and Europe. This suggests the revocations may be limited to certain regions.
OpenAI referred TechCrunch to a tweet in which the company said a “limited set of users’ access to Daybreak Blue is no longer active and they will need to re-verify to maintain their access.”
Daybreak Blue is the latest tier for individual researchers that grants access to “frontier general-purpose models, including GPT‑5.6 Sol, with safeguards tailored to authorized defensive security work,” according to OpenAI. The company launched it on August 10. It is described as the recommended starting point for most defenders, supporting vulnerability discovery, secure code review, malware analysis, incident response, and patch validation.
At the same time, the company also introduced a higher tier called Daybreak Red. This gives access to models made specifically for cybersecurity research, which allow vetted users to do “authorized vulnerability research, exploit validation, and security testing.”
What it means
Researchers outside the U.S. and Europe who rely on these advanced tiers for legitimate defensive work now face a temporary block. They must go through the verification process again to regain entry to the models they need for bug hunting and security analysis. This delay interrupts their workflow and could slow down the identification of critical flaws in software.
