GPT-5.6 Codex Bug Can Wipe Your Entire Home Folde

The GPT-5.6 file deletion bug may cause Codex to erase user files when developers grant it unrestricted system access without sandboxing protections.

OpenAI has investigated a handful of reports involving unexpected file deletion and described the incidents as extremely rare. The issue may also require users to disable automatic review safeguards before it can occur.

What Causes the GPT-5.6 File Deletion Bug?

The problem reportedly occurs when GPT-5.6 attempts to override the HOME environment variable while creating a temporary directory.

When the model later tries to remove that temporary directory, it can mistakenly delete the directory referenced by HOME instead.

On macOS and Linux, the HOME variable normally points to the user’s main home directory. As a result, the bug could erase important personal files, source code, project data, and development environments.

The issue appears limited to Codex sessions running with full system access and without normal sandboxing protections.

OpenAI Plans Additional Codex Safeguards

OpenAI is updating the developer message displayed when users enable full-access mode.

The revised warning will highlight the risks associated with giving an AI agent unrestricted access to local files and system resources. It will also direct developers toward safer permission modes that include additional guardrails.

OpenAI is developing further protections for the Codex harness to reduce the risk of similar incidents.

The company expects to publish a detailed post-mortem in the coming days. The report will explain what caused the file deletion incidents and outline future risk-mitigation measures.

Codex Users Should Revoke Full-System Access

Developers should avoid granting Codex unrestricted access until OpenAI introduces additional safeguards.

Sandboxed or restricted permission modes can limit which directories and commands the agent can access. Users should also keep backups of important files before allowing any AI agent to perform system-level tasks.

Anyone currently using full-access mode should revoke those permissions and review their Codex configuration.

In other news, Microsoft has brought GPT-5.6 to Microsoft 365 Copilot, while OpenAI had to reset ChatGPT usage limits following a traffic surge linked to the new model.

OpenAI has also launched ChatGPT Work alongside the new model.

Via Neowin