ML Security PapersFLAT: Latent-Driven Arbitrary-Target Backdoor Attacks in Federated Learning
Tuan Nguyen, Khoa D Doan, Kok-Seng Wong · VinUniversity
Proposes FLAT, a federated learning backdoor attack using a conditional autoencoder to generate diverse, arbitrary-target triggers that evade standard defenses
Federated learning (FL) is vulnerable to backdoor attacks, yet most existing methods are limited by fixed-pattern or single-target triggers, making them inflexible and easier to detect. We propose FLAT (FL Arbitrary-Target Attack), a novel backdoor attack that leverages a latent-driven conditional autoencoder to generate diverse, target-specific triggers as needed. By introducing a latent code, FLAT enables the creation of visually adaptive and highly variable triggers, allowing attackers to select arbitrary targets without retraining and to evade conventional detection mechanisms. Our approach unifies attack success, stealth, and diversity within a single framework, introducing a new level of flexibility and sophistication to backdoor attacks in FL. Extensive experiments show that FLAT achieves high attack success and remains robust against advanced FL defenses. These results highlight the urgent need for new defense strategies to address latent-driven, multi-target backdoor threats in federated settings.