From Prompt Injections to Protocol Exploits: Threats in LLM-Powered AI Agents Workflows

Agent Multi-agent Collaboration Autonomous Workflows AI Safety / AI Ethics PIAAP MBDSF
2025年06月29日
由具备结构化函数调用接口的大语言模型(LLM)驱动的自主AI智能体,已在实时数据检索、复杂计算和多步骤流程编排方面展现出显著的能力扩展。然而,插件、连接器以及智能体间协议的迅速增长已超越了现有的发现机制与安全实践,导致集成系统脆弱,容易受到各种威胁。在本综述中,我们提出了首个面向LLM智能体生态系统的统一、端到端的威胁模型,涵盖从主机到工具以及智能体之间的通信,形式化了攻击者能力与攻击目标,并整理了三十余种攻击技术。具体而言,我们将威胁模型划分为四个领域:输入操控(如提示词注入、长上下文劫持、多模态对抗输入)、模型破坏(如提示词级与参数级后门、组合与加密多后门、投毒策略)、系统与隐私攻击(如推测性侧信道攻击、成员推理攻击、检索内容污染、社会工程模拟),以及协议漏洞(如Model Context Protocol(MCP)、Agent Communication Protocol(ACP)、Agent Network Protocol(ANP)和Agent-to-Agent(A2A)协议中的漏洞)。对于每个类别,我们回顾了代表性场景,评估了其在现实世界中的可行性,并分析了现有防御措施的效果。基于我们的威胁分类体系,我们进一步指出了若干关键的开放性挑战与未来研究方向,例如通过动态信任管理与密码学溯源追踪来保障MCP部署的安全性、设计并加固智能体网络接口(Agentic Web Interfaces),以及在多智能体与联邦环境中实现系统韧性。本研究为构建强大的防御机制及建立稳健的LLM智能体工作流最佳实践提供了全面的参考指南。
Autonomous AI agents powered by large language models (LLMs) with structured function-calling interfaces have dramatically expanded capabilities for real-time data retrieval, complex computation, and multi-step orchestration. Yet, the explosive proliferation of plugins, connectors, and inter-agent protocols has outpaced discovery mechanisms and security practices, resulting in brittle integrations vulnerable to diverse threats. In this survey, we introduce the first unified, end-to-end threat model for LLM-agent ecosystems, spanning host-to-tool and agent-to-agent communications, formalize adversary capabilities and attacker objectives, and catalog over thirty attack techniques. Specifically, we organized the threat model into four domains: Input Manipulation (e.g., prompt injections, long-context hijacks, multimodal adversarial inputs), Model Compromise (e.g., prompt- and parameter-level backdoors, composite and encrypted multi-backdoors, poisoning strategies), System and Privacy Attacks (e.g., speculative side-channels, membership inference, retrieval poisoning, social-engineering simulations), and Protocol Vulnerabilities (e.g., exploits in Model Context Protocol (MCP), Agent Communication Protocol (ACP), Agent Network Protocol (ANP), and Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocol). For each category, we review representative scenarios, assess real-world feasibility, and evaluate existing defenses. Building on our threat taxonomy, we identify key open challenges and future research directions, such as securing MCP deployments through dynamic trust management and cryptographic provenance tracking; designing and hardening Agentic Web Interfaces; and achieving resilience in multi-agent and federated environments. Our work provides a comprehensive reference to guide the design of robust defense mechanisms and establish best practices for resilient LLM-agent workflows.
许愿