[2605.18991] Agent Security is a Systems Problem

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Computer Science > Cryptography and Security

arXiv:2605.18991 (cs)

[Submitted on 18 May 2026]

Title:Agent Security is a Systems Problem

Authors:Mihai Christodorescu, Earlence Fernandes, Ashish Hooda, Somesh Jha, Johann Rehberger, Kamalika Chaudhuri, Xiaohan Fu, Khawaja Shams, Guy Amir, Jihye Choi, Sarthak Choudhary, Nils Palumbo, Andrey Labunets, Nishit V. Pandya<br>View a PDF of the paper titled Agent Security is a Systems Problem, by Mihai Christodorescu and Earlence Fernandes and Ashish Hooda and Somesh Jha and Johann Rehberger and Kamalika Chaudhuri and Xiaohan Fu and Khawaja Shams and Guy Amir and Jihye Choi and Sarthak Choudhary and Nils Palumbo and Andrey Labunets and Nishit V. Pandya

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Abstract:We take the position that agent security must be approached as a systems problem: the AI model powering the agent must be treated as an untrusted component, and security invariants must be enforced at the system level. Through this lens, efforts to increase model robustness (the dominant viewpoint in the community) are insufficient on their own. Instead, we must complement existing efforts with techniques from the systems security domain. Based on our experience as cybersecurity researchers in operating systems, networks, formal methods, and adversarial machine learning, we articulate a set of core principles, grounded in decades of systems security research, that provide a foundation for designing agentic systems with predictable guarantees. As evidence, we analyze eleven representative real-world attacks on agents and discuss how systems principles, if realized, could have prevented these attacks. We also identify the research challenges that stand in the way of implementing these principles in agents.

Subjects:

Cryptography and Security (cs.CR); Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI)

Cite as:<br>arXiv:2605.18991 [cs.CR]

(or<br>arXiv:2605.18991v1 [cs.CR] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.18991

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arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

Submission history<br>From: Nils Palumbo [view email]<br>[v1]<br>Mon, 18 May 2026 18:11:17 UTC (9,744 KB)

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View a PDF of the paper titled Agent Security is a Systems Problem, by Mihai Christodorescu and Earlence Fernandes and Ashish Hooda and Somesh Jha and Johann Rehberger and Kamalika Chaudhuri and Xiaohan Fu and Khawaja Shams and Guy Amir and Jihye Choi and Sarthak Choudhary and Nils Palumbo and Andrey Labunets and Nishit V. Pandya<br>View PDF<br>HTML (experimental)<br>TeX Source

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