Nearly 1 in 10 Exposed LiteLLM Gateways Accept Default Admin Key

Wiz Research reported that a scan of internet-facing LiteLLM servers conducted in February 2026 revealed that nearly one in ten accepted the default admin key 'sk-1234'. LiteLLM is an open-source AI gateway product that sits between applications and model providers, serving as an administrator credential. The key is documented as an example in LiteLLM's own setup guide. Researchers warned that anyone possessing this key can read every request and potentially abuse connected AI model services. The finding highlights a common security oversight in AI infrastructure deployment, where default credentials are not replaced after installation. Wiz noted that the exposure window remains active for any servers still configured with the default key. The report did not attribute malicious exploitation but warned that the known default credential increases the attack surface for threat actors targeting AI supply chains. LiteLLM maintainers were contacted for comment on recommended remediation steps.