Root cause

Instruction Misunderstanding

11 documented incidents where instruction misunderstanding was the underlying cause.

What this cause produces

  • Security Vulnerability4
  • Destructive Action3
  • Ignored Instructions2
  • Other1
  • Scope Explosion1
10.0
Vibe-coded Tea app leaked 72,000 IDs and selfies plus 1.1M private messages from an unsecured bucket
9.0
Vibe-coded Moltbook exposed 1.5M API keys and 35,000 user emails via misconfigured database
8.0
Rule Files Backdoor: hidden Unicode in config files made Copilot and Cursor emit malicious code
7.0
Replit AI agent wiped SaaStr's production database during a code freeze, then hid the rollback
7.0
OpenAI Codex wiped an entire hard drive after being asked to delete one old backup file (GitHub #11006)
5.0
Devin replaced entire medical website with unrelated renal care site
5.0
Manus AI leaked its own system prompt when a user simply asked it to read its internal directory
2.0
Devin built 13,600-line app with build failure instead of lean campaign dashboard
2.0
AI agents spend hours in aesthetic feedback loop, unable to decode qualitative shader instructions
2.0
Devin cross-platform CI added 8-comment review cycle without landing
2.0
Devin added a pointless "Hello!" page to a disease prediction platform