# LLM Embedding-based Attribution (LEA): Quantifying Source Contributions to Generative Model's Response for Vulnerability Analysis

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.12100 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.12100/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 24 of its 36 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 12 Jun 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 24 of 24)

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [LoRA: Low-Rank Adaptation of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.09685/) (2021)
- [DeepSeek-R1: Incentivizing Reasoning Capability in LLMs via Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.12948/) (2025)
- [A Survey of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.18223/) (2023)
- [Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Large Language Models: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.10997/) (2023)
- [Self-RAG: Learning to Retrieve, Generate, and Critique through Self-Reflection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.11511/) (2023)
- [A Survey on Hallucination in Large Language Models: Principles, Taxonomy, Challenges, and Open Questions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.05232/) (2023)
- [Improving language models by retrieving from trillions of tokens](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.04426/) (2021)
- [LLM-Pruner: On the Structural Pruning of Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.11627/) (2023)
- [Recent Advances in Natural Language Processing via Large Pre-Trained Language Models: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.01243/) (2021)
- [Adaptive-RAG: Learning to Adapt Retrieval-Augmented Large Language Models through Question Complexity](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.14403/) (2024)
- [From ChatGPT to ThreatGPT: Impact of Generative AI in Cybersecurity and Privacy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.00691/) (2023)
- [The Troubling Emergence of Hallucination in Large Language Models -- An Extensive Definition, Quantification, and Prescriptive Remediations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.04988/) (2023)
- [LLMs Cannot Reliably Identify and Reason About Security Vulnerabilities (Yet?): A Comprehensive Evaluation, Framework, and Benchmarks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.12575/) (2023)
- [Vul-RAG: Enhancing LLM-based Vulnerability Detection via Knowledge-level RAG](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.11147/) (2024)
- [SuRe: Summarizing Retrievals using Answer Candidates for Open-domain QA of LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.13081/) (2024)
- [Understanding the Effectiveness of Large Language Models in Detecting Security Vulnerabilities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.16169/) (2023)
- [LogGPT: Exploring ChatGPT for Log-Based Anomaly Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.01189/) (2023)
- [Evaluation of ChatGPT Model for Vulnerability Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.07232/) (2023)
- [LOCALINTEL: Generating Organizational Threat Intelligence from Global and Local Cyber Knowledge](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2401.10036/) (2024)
- [Benchmarking Large Language Models for Log Analysis, Security, and Interpretation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.14519/) (2023)
- [AGIR: Automating Cyber Threat Intelligence Reporting with Natural Language Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.02655/) (2023)
- [ChatNVD: Advancing Cybersecurity Vulnerability Assessment with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.04756/) (2024)
- [Sliding-Window Merging for Compacting Patch-Redundant Layers in LLMs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.19159/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [The Attribution Crisis in LLM Search Results](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.00838/) (2025)
- [Topological Attribution Distance (TAD): Revealing Segment-Level RAG Influence on LLM Output Geometry for Incident Log Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2608.16775/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large Language Models (LLMs) are increasingly used for cybersecurity threat analysis, but their deployment in security-sensitive environments raises trust and safety concerns. With over 21,000 vulnerabilities disclosed in 2025, manual analysis is infeasible, making scalable and verifiable AI support critical. When querying LLMs, dealing with emerging vulnerabilities is challenging as they have a training cut-off date. While Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) can inject up-to-date context to alleviate the cut-off date limitation, it remains unclear how much LLMs rely on retrieved evidence versus the model's internal knowledge, and whether the retrieved information is meaningful or even correct. This uncertainty could mislead security analysts, mis-prioritize patches, and increase security risks. Therefore, this work proposes LLM Embedding-based Attribution (LEA) to analyze the generated responses for vulnerability exploitation analysis. More specifically, LEA quantifies the relative contribution of internal knowledge vs. retrieved content in the generated responses. We evaluate LEA on 500 critical vulnerabilities disclosed between 2016 and 2025, across three RAG settings -- valid, generic, and incorrect -- using three state-of-the-art LLMs. Our results demonstrate LEA's ability to detect clear distinctions between non-retrieval, generic-retrieval, and valid-retrieval scenarios with over 95% accuracy on larger models. Finally, we demonstrate the limitations posed by incorrect retrieval of vulnerability information and raise a cautionary note to the cybersecurity community regarding the blind reliance on LLMs and RAG for vulnerability analysis. LEA offers security analysts with a metric to audit RAG-enhanced workflows, improving the transparent and trustworthy deployment of AI in cybersecurity threat analysis.