DeepSeek Activation Steering Enables Local LLM Jailbreak
Activation steering — the technique of directly manipulating LLM internal representations mid-inference to alter model behaviour — is becoming more accessible to non-lab engineers via local models like DeepSeek-V4-Flash. This democratisation lowers the barrier for adversaries to craft targeted behavioural overrides that bypass prompt-level safety controls. The emergence of first-class steering support in tools like DwarfStar 4 signals that model-internal manipulation is transitioning from academic curiosity to practical attack surface.