Definition
An attack that injects malicious data into the semantic search index (vector store) that powers RAG systems. Because vector databases search by meaning rather than exact keywords, an attacker can craft poisoned data that appears relevant to legitimate queries and tricks the AI into retrieving it.
Why it matters
Vector stores are the authoritative knowledge base for RAG pipelines; if they are poisoned, the AI will generate hallucinations or leak secrets that appear legitimate because they match the semantic context of the user's question.