Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) is an emerging approach in natural
language processing that combines large language models (LLMs) with external
document retrieval to produce more accurate and grounded responses. While RAG
has shown strong potential in reducing hallucinations and improving factual
consistency, it also introduces new privacy and security challenges that differ
from those faced by traditional LLMs. Existing research has demonstrated that
LLMs can leak sensitive information through training data memorization or
adversarial prompts, and RAG systems inherit many of these vulnerabilities. At
the same time, reliance of RAG on an external knowledge base opens new attack
surfaces, including the potential for leaking information about the presence or
content of retrieved documents, or for injecting malicious content to
manipulate model behavior. Despite these risks, there is currently no formal
framework that defines the threat landscape for RAG systems. In this paper, we
address a critical gap in the literature by proposing, to the best of our
knowledge, the first formal threat model for retrieval-RAG systems. We
introduce a structured taxonomy of adversary types based on their access to
model components and data, and we formally define key threat vectors such as
document-level membership inference and data poisoning, which pose serious
privacy and integrity risks in real-world deployments. By establishing formal
definitions and attack models, our work lays the foundation for a more rigorous
and principled understanding of privacy and security in RAG systems.