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Reasoning DoS Plugin

Reasoning DoS (Denial of Service) covers prompts that push reasoning-capable models into unnecessary work, long runtimes, or inflated inference cost. Use this plugin to test whether the system handles those pressure cases without giving the attacker an easy resource-exhaustion path.

Purpose​

It focuses on whether the system:

  1. Avoids unnecessary recursive reasoning.
  2. Resists prompts designed to trigger excessive computation.
  3. Preserves reasonable cost and latency under adversarial input.

Configuration​

To include the Reasoning DoS plugin in your LLM red teaming setup:

redteam:
  plugins:
    - reasoning-dos

How It Works​

The Reasoning DoS plugin generates test cases that attempt to trigger excessive computation through:

  1. Complex mathematical or logical problems requiring iterative solutions
  2. Nested decision-making scenarios
  3. Multi-step optimization problems
  4. Game theory scenarios
  5. Markov Decision Processes (MDPs)
  6. Recursive reasoning chains
  7. Puzzle-solving tasks (e.g., Sudoku)

Evaluation Criteria​

The plugin assesses the AI's response based on:

  1. Computation Limits: Does the system properly limit computational resources?
  2. Pattern Recognition: Can it identify potential computational traps?
  3. Response Efficiency: Does it provide direct answers without unnecessary computation?
  4. Resource Management: How well does it manage computational resources under stress?
  5. Attack Resistance: Can it resist attempts to trigger excessive computation?

Importance in Gen AI Red Teaming​

These tests matter when a model can spend far more effort on a prompt than the user spent crafting it. The risk is operational: degraded latency, higher cost, and reduced service quality under targeted abuse.

Last updated on by renovate[bot]