GPT-5.6 deletes user files by mistake, OpenAI adds 5 layers of protection to Codex
Comparative News, AI News, OpenAI Product Owner Tibo has reviewed the Codex file mistakenly deleted issue and announced the fixes that have already been launched. In rare cases, GPT-5.6 will mistake the path when cleaning temporary files. One of the most dangerous situations is to mistakenly treat $HOME as a temporary directory and directly delete all the files in the user's home directory. OpenAI now adds 5 layers of protection: 1. Read the target clearly before deleting. The codex has to check the path to be removed, and stops when the scope isn't clear. 2. Temporary files will only be placed in a new directory. System environment variables such as $HOME are no longer used as temporary directories. 3. Review high-risk delete orders first. The system will identify suspicious deletion commands and submit them for additional review. If the review does not pass, it will not be executed, and the model will be replaced with a safer approach. 4. Tighten Full Access. Full permissions are more difficult to misopen, risk alerts are more clear, and some particularly dangerous permission combinations have been further restricted. 5. Train codecs to make fewer such mistakes. OpenAI made the previous mistakenly deleted question into a playback test, while adding related reinforcement learning tasks and filtering destructive operations in the training data. Tibo said the new measures have significantly reduced such issues, while not significantly affecting Codex's ability to complete programming tasks properly. He still advises regular users to use sandbox mode first, and only enable Full Access in a trusted and recoverable environment.



