# TP-CRIV: A Framework for Third-Party Challenge-Response Identity Verification of AI Models

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.29264 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.29264/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 31 of its 42 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 24 Sep 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 30 of 31)

- [Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1512.03385/) (2015)
- [PyTorch: An Imperative Style, High-Performance Deep Learning Library](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.01703/) (2019)
- [Very Deep Convolutional Networks for Large-Scale Image Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1409.1556/) (2014)
- [The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Deep Features as a Perceptual Metric](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.03924/) (2018)
- [Distilling the Knowledge in a Neural Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1503.02531/) (2015)
- [Explaining and Harnessing Adversarial Examples](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1412.6572/) (2014)
- [Towards Deep Learning Models Resistant to Adversarial Attacks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.06083/) (2017)
- [Learning both Weights and Connections for Efficient Neural Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1506.02626/) (2015)
- [Adversarial examples in the physical world](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1607.02533/) (2016)
- [Quantization and Training of Neural Networks for Efficient Integer-Arithmetic-Only Inference](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1712.05877/) (2017)
- [How transferable are features in deep neural networks?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1411.1792/) (2014)
- [Stealing Machine Learning Models via Prediction APIs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1609.02943/) (2016)
- [Turning Your Weakness Into a Strength: Watermarking Deep Neural Networks by Backdooring](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.04633/) (2018)
- [The Stable Signature: Rooting Watermarks in Latent Diffusion Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.15435/) (2023)
- [Knockoff Nets: Stealing Functionality of Black-Box Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1812.02766/) (2018)
- [Adversarial Frontier Stitching for Remote Neural Network Watermarking](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1711.01894/) (2017)
- [Deep Neural Network Fingerprinting by Conferrable Adversarial Examples](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1912.00888/) (2019)
- [REMARK-LLM: A Robust and Efficient Watermarking Framework for Generative Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.12362/) (2023)
- [A survey of deep neural network watermarking techniques](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.09274/) (2021)
- [IPGuard: Protecting Intellectual Property of Deep Neural Networks via Fingerprinting the Classification Boundary](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1910.12903/) (2019)
- [Fingerprinting Deep Neural Networks Globally via Universal Adversarial Perturbations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.08602/) (2022)
- [SafetyNets: Verifiable Execution of Deep Neural Networks on an Untrusted Cloud](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.10268/) (2017)
- [Copy, Right? A Testing Framework for Copyright Protection of Deep Learning Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.05588/) (2021)
- [TRAP: Targeted Random Adversarial Prompt Honeypot for Black-Box Identification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2402.12991/) (2024)
- [ModelDiff: Testing-Based DNN Similarity Comparison for Model Reuse Detection](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.08890/) (2021)
- [Deep Intellectual Property Protection: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.14613/) (2023)
- [Model Provenance Testing for Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.00706/) (2025)
- [Neural Lineage](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.11129/) (2024)
- [Queries, Representation & Detection: The Next 100 Model Fingerprinting Schemes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.13021/) (2024)
- [Lazy Layers to Make Fine-Tuned Diffusion Models More Traceable](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.00466/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Artificial intelligence (AI) models are increasingly deployed through remote services, making model misappropriation a growing concern. Existing approaches, including watermarking, fingerprinting, and model similarity analysis, primarily rely on predefined evidence or direct behavioral comparison and do not explicitly evaluate whether the claimant currently possesses and can utilize model-dependent information relevant to the claimed model identity. In this paper, we propose Third-Party Challenge-Response Identity Verification (TP-CRIV) for AI models. TP-CRIV targets a third-party verification setting in which the verifier has neither white-box nor API access to the claimant's model, can interact with the suspicious deployed service only through its ordinary black-box inference interface, and does not require protocol-specific cooperation from the service provider. Under these constraints, the framework enables the verifier to obtain empirical evidence as to whether the claimant locally possesses a model satisfying a predeclared identity relative to the deployed model. Verification is conducted under fresh, previously undisclosed requirements and network isolation, so that the demonstrated capability cannot rely on online external assistance after challenge disclosure. The resulting evidence is interpreted relative to independently specified and calibrated matching and non-matching operating situations and is statistical rather than cryptographic. We instantiate TP-CRIV for CNN image classifiers using probability-control-based witness generation. Experiments on ten ImageNet-pretrained TorchVision models demonstrate clear same/cross-model separation and finite-challenge verification using independently calibrated thresholds.