We took ChatGPT offline earlier this week due to a bug in an open-source library which allowed some users to see titles from another active user’s chat history. It’s also possible that the first message of a newly-created conversation was visible in someone else’s chat history if both users were active around the same time.
The bug is now patched. We were able to restore both the ChatGPT service and, later, its chat history feature, with the exception of a few hours of history. As promised, we’re publishing more technical details of this problem below.
Upon deeper investigation, we also discovered that the same bug may have caused the unintentional visibility of payment-related information of 1.2% of the ChatGPT Plus subscribers who were active during a specific nine-hour window. In the hours before we took ChatGPT offline on Monday, it was possible for some users to see another active user’s first and last name, email address, payment address, credit card type and the last four digits (only) of a credit card number, and credit card expiration date. Full credit card numbers were not exposed at any time.
We believe the number of users whose data was actually revealed to someone else is extremely low. To access this information, a ChatGPT Plus subscriber would have needed to do one of the following:
We have reached out to notify affected users that their payment information may have been exposed. We are confident that there is no ongoing risk to users’ data.
Everyone at OpenAI is committed to protecting our users’ privacy and keeping their data safe. It’s a responsibility we take incredibly seriously. Unfortunately, this week we fell short of that commitment, and of our users’ expectations. We apologize again to our users and to the entire ChatGPT community and will work diligently to rebuild trust.
## Technical details
The bug was discovered in the Redis client open-source library, redis-py. As soon as we identified the bug, we reached out to the Redis maintainers with a patch to resolve the issue. Here’s how the bug worked:
This bug only appeared in the Asyncio redis-py client for Redis Cluster, and has now been fixed.
## Actions we’ve taken
As our investigation wraps up, supporting and informing our users is our top priority.
We have taken the following actions to improve our systems:
## Where we go from here
The Redis open-source maintainers have been fantastic collaborators, swiftly addressing the bug and rolling out a patch. Redis, along with other open-source software, plays a crucial role in our research efforts. Their significance cannot be understated—we would not have been able to scale ChatGPT without Redis. We’re dedicated to continually supporting and contributing to the Redis community.
View all product articles
Global news partnerships: Le Monde and Prisa Media Company Mar 13, 2024
OpenAI announces new members to board of directors Company Mar 8, 2024
Review completed & Altman, Brockman to continue to lead OpenAI Company Mar 8, 2024
Our Research * Research Index * Research Overview * Research Residency * OpenAI for Science * Economic Research
Latest Advancements * GPT-5.3 Instant * GPT-5.3-Codex * GPT-5 * Codex
Safety * Safety Approach * Security & Privacy * Trust & Transparency
ChatGPT * Explore ChatGPT(opens in a new window) * Business * Enterprise * Education * Pricing(opens in a new window) * Download(opens in a new window)
Sora * Sora Overview * Features * Pricing * Sora log in(opens in a new window)
API Platform * Platform Overview * Pricing * API log in(opens in a new window) * Documentation(opens in a new window) * Developer Forum(opens in a new window)
For Business * Business Overview * Solutions * Contact Sales
Company * About Us * Our Charter * Foundation * Careers * Brand
Support * Help Center(opens in a new window)
More * News * Stories * Livestreams * Podcast * RSS
Terms & Policies * Terms of Use * Privacy Policy * Other Policies
(opens in a new window)(opens in a new window)(opens in a new window)(opens in a new window)(opens in a new window)(opens in a new window)(opens in a new window)
OpenAI © 2015–2026 Manage Cookies
English United States
