Apple says former employee exploited ‘rare’ bug to download confidential files after leaving for OpenAI

Apple spokespeople did not respond to an email from TechCrunch with questions about the security vulnerability, how it was exploited, and when the company decommissioned the employee’s credentials.

In the complaint, Apple alleged that Liu took “dozens of Apple’s confidential hardware-related files” over the course of several weeks while as a new OpenAI employee. 

Apple said the files contained “detailed information about unreleased products, engineering presentations, technical specifications, and proprietary project data.” 

The company claims Liu failed to return the Apple-issued work laptop he had previously used to access Apple’s network, suggesting it was once able to send and receive files from Apple’s internal systems. The complaint said that Liu allegedly claimed to have “another computer.” While he was at OpenAI, Liu also allegedly misused the access of an acquaintance, Yu-Ting Peng, a then-Apple employee who later went to work for OpenAI. Liu allegedly used Peng’s Apple-issued work laptop “while she was still employed at Apple and he was not.”

Apple said that during February 2026, Liu “tried to access Apple’s network storage — a cloud-based file repository containing Apple’s confidential engineering files, project documentation, and other proprietary information.”

Liu had allegedly discovered that he “still could access Apple’s network repository after leaving Apple, the result of a then-unknown authentication vulnerability.”

Apple did not describe the authentication “bug” that Liu allegedly used to access Apple’s network. However, authentication bugs generally refer to flaws in the login process that allow improper access to systems or data, either because of a weakness in how the login mechanism works or due to a misconfiguration, such as overbroad permissions or not decommissioning the login credentials of a former employee. 

Apple wrote in its complaint that when Liu learned he had unauthorized access to Apple’s systems, he did not report the bug to Apple under his employment agreement obligations, nor did he return his Apple-issued work laptop. 

The complaint added that Liu also failed to “delete the program that allowed the access” to Apple’s network. The company did not say what program or app that Liu allegedly used to access Apple’s systems. It’s not uncommon for employees to have tools, such as a work-approved VPN or remote-viewing app, that allow them to access sensitive data from outside of the company’s offices using their credentials.

Given that Liu was previously granted credentials to Apple’s network as an employee, TechCrunch asked Apple when the company decommissioned Liu’s access, but we did not hear back.

Once Liu allegedly gained access to the network share, he wrote to Peng: “LOL, I found out I can access the , so funny.”

Apple filed its suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, and has demanded a jury trial. OpenAI previously said it has “no interest in other companies’ trade secrets.”

The case, if it proceeds, could begin this year.