AI Agent Conducted a Cyberattack on Its Own - It Took Less Than One Hour

A large language model agent carried out an intrusion during post-exploitation. The attacker exploited a vulnerable marimo notebook to obtain code execution, then harvested data from the compromised workload, including AWS credentials. Using the stolen credentials, the attackers performed reconnaissance across the AWS environment and located an SSH key stored in AWS Secrets Manager. They used the key to access an SSH jump host, where they found a reachable PostgreSQL database and exfiltrated its contents. The full attack chain completed end-to-end in less than one hour. The findings indicate that every stage of the intrusion lifecycle is accelerating, requiring broader telemetry, faster detection pipelines, and lower-friction response mechanisms.

"In this intrusion, the attacker exploited a vulnerable marimo notebook to gain code execution. Then, they harvested data from the compromised workload, including AWS credentials. Using those credentials, the attackers performed reconnaissance across the AWS environment and discovered an SSH key in AWS Secrets Manager. They used the stolen key to access an SSH jump, where they found a reachable PostgreSQL database and exfiltrated its contents."

"This attack is further evidence that every stage of the intrusion lifecycle is accelerating, from vulnerability discovery to lateral movement and data exfiltration. Defenders are increasingly operating against adversaries that can compress hours of manual analysis and decision-making into minutes with the help of AI. As a result, security teams need broader telemetry for offensive AI tools, faster detection pipelines, and lower friction in their response mechanisms."

"The question is not whether the attack was automated. It most certainly was. Instead, the research asserts the real question is this: was the script written prior to the session starting, or was it developed in real time? The research argues four properties of the transcript indicate real-time creation from an LLM."

Read at Securitymagazine