Story perspectives

China warns Claude Code backdoor, Alibaba bans usage

7/9/2026

Summary

China Warns

China's vulnerability database warned that Claude Code may have a backdoor that can send location and identity data without consent.
The regulator urged agencies, businesses and users to inspect systems and uninstall or upgrade the affected versions.
Alibaba told employees to stop using Claude Code from July 10, with its services remaining blocked in China.
Engineer Thariq Shihipar said March mitigations will be fully rolled back in the July 9 release.

Summary

Anthropic Denies Backdoor

Anthropic said the disputed code only checks a device’s timezone and domain routing, describing it as a standard fraud-and-abuse detection method, not covert data collection.
Engineer Thariq Shihipar posted on X that stronger mitigations were added and the experimental feature will be removed in the next release.
The backdoor allegations first surfaced in specialist technology media last week and were later cited by China’s National Vulnerability Database.

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China Warns

China's vulnerability database warned that Claude Code may have a backdoor that can send location and identity data without consent.
The regulator urged agencies, businesses and users to inspect systems and uninstall or upgrade the affected versions.
Alibaba told employees to stop using Claude Code from July 10, with its services remaining blocked in China.
Engineer Thariq Shihipar said March mitigations will be fully rolled back in the July 9 release.

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