'What if the AI agent you just deployed was secretly working against you?': Vertex AI 'double agent' flaw exposes customer data and Google's internal code

Date:
Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:25:00 +0000

Description:
Misconfigured AI agents can lead to data disclosure and other risks.

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now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Unit 42 reveals misconfigured Vertex AI
agents in Google Cloud can be hijacked into double agents Excessive default permissions let attackers pivot, access Cloud Storage, and expose proprietary Google code Google updated documentation, urging customers to use Bring Your Own Service Account (BYOSA) instead of defaults Cloud misconfigurations are one of the biggest causes of data leaks, but now we have another form of misconfiguration to worry about - AI agents.

Unit 42, Palo Altos cybersecurity arm , has revealed new analysis showing how an AI agent deployed in the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Vertex AI Agent
Engine can be turned into a double agent - doing nefarious work while appearing to serve its intended purpose. Vertex AI is the main AI/ML platform from Google Cloud, where developers can build and deploy machine learning models and generative AI apps. The Agent Engine is what turns models into autonomous agents. Article continues below You may like 'No one asked them to': Security experts warn malicious AI agents can team up to launch cyberattacks Shadow AI 'double agents' are outpacing security visibility and that's a serious concern for UK businesses The mobile app traffic your security team can't see and AI agents are generating it A blueprint for finding flaws However, Unit 42 notes that if theyre not careful with permissions, users can leave their agents vulnerable to takeovers.

By exploiting a significant risk in default permission scoping and compromising a single service agent, we reveal how the Vertex AI permission model can be misused, leading to unintended consequences, the report states.

The researchers first deployed a custom AI agent using Vertex AIs ADK in a controlled environment and then discovered that the agents default service account (P4SA) had excessive permissions.

Then, using a custom-built malicious tool , they were able to extract service agent credentials from the metadata service, and then use those to pivot into the consumer project. This gave them unrestricted read access to all Cloud Storage data, as well as the producer (Google-managed) environment. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

This exposed restricted Artifact Registry repositories, allowing the researchers to download private container images, enumerate internal
resources and inspected artifacts, and reveal proprietary source code and internal infrastructure details.

"Gaining access to this proprietary code not only exposes Google's intellectual property but also provides an attacker with a blueprint to find further vulnerabilities," the researchers explained in the paper.

In response, Google updated its documentation, to better explain how Vertex
AI uses resources, accounts, and agents. The company is now recommending customers use Bring Your Own Service Account (BYOSA) to replace the default ones. The best antivirus for all budgets Our top picks, based on real-world testing and comparisons

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/what-if-the-ai-agent-you-just-deployed- was-secretly-working-against-you-vertex-ai-double-agent-flaw-exposes-customer- data-and-googles-internal-code


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