OWASP Top 10 for Agentic AI (2026)

If you're evaluating vendors for an AI agentic security assessment, you're likely asking:

• What does OWASP Top 10 2026 mean for AI agents?
• How is agentic AI security different from traditional web app security?
• What should an AI agentic pen test actually include?
• How do I know if a vendor truly understands autonomous AI risk?

Agentic AI systems are autonomous or semi-autonomous software agents that:

• Plan tasks
• Call APIs
• Access internal systems
• Interact with external services
• Make decisions based on goals

Unlike a standard chatbot, an agentic system may:

• Access CRM records
• Trigger payments
• Modify cloud infrastructure
• Send emails
• Query databases

That expanded capability dramatically increases your attack surface.

Traditional application security assumes:

“User sends request → app responds.”

Agentic AI introduces:

“User influences model → model decides → agent executes → tools act.”

That decision layer introduces new security failure points.

OWASP introduced guidance for agentic applications because traditional web app risks don’t fully cover:

• Goal manipulation
• Tool misuse
• Autonomous privilege escalation
• Prompt-based control flow abuse
• Data exfiltration through reasoning loops

The OWASP Top 10 2026 for Agentic AI highlights risks unique to autonomous systems and is rapidly becoming the reference framework vendors cite when offering AI agentic security scanning and AI penetration testing services.

If a vendor doesn’t align their methodology to OWASP’s agentic framework, that’s a red flag.

The difference is autonomy.

When your system can act without constant human validation, failures escalate faster.

Below is a simplified executive summary of the most relevant agentic risks.

A01 – Broken Access Control in Autonomous Agents

Agents may:

• Execute actions beyond assigned role
• Access tenant data across boundaries
• Use inherited credentials improperly

Business impact:

• Data breach
• Multi-tenant exposure
• Privilege escalation

What to ask vendors:

“How do you test for cross-tenant and delegated privilege abuse in agent workflows?”

A02 – Cryptographic & Sensitive Data Failures

Agents often:

• Store tokens
• Access secrets
• Handle PII
• Process regulated data

Risk areas:

• Exposed API keys
• Improper secret storage
• Data leakage in logs

Vendor question:

“Do you test how agents store, transmit, and log sensitive data?”

A03 – Injection & Prompt Manipulation

The modern equivalent of injection is prompt injection.

Attackers can:

• Override system instructions
• Trick agents into leaking secrets
• Manipulate decision logic

Vendor question:

“Do you simulate malicious prompt injection attacks?”

A04 – Insecure Design (Autonomous Logic Flaws)

This includes:

• Agents completing tasks without validation
• Skipping approval workflows
• Trusting external content

These are not scanner-detectable bugs — they require skilled manual testing.

Vendor question:

“How do you evaluate business logic flaws in agent goal execution?”

A05 – Security Misconfiguration in Agent Infrastructure

Common issues:

• Over-permissive IAM roles
• Unrestricted outbound network access
• Unprotected metadata endpoints

Vendor question:

“Does your assessment include cloud infrastructure review?”

A06 – Vulnerable & Outdated Components

Agents rely on:

• LLM frameworks
• Orchestration tools
• Third-party APIs

Vendor question:

“Do you validate exploitability of vulnerable AI components?”

A07 – Authentication & Identity Failures

Risks include:

• Weak service-to-service authentication
• Shared tokens
• Improper session isolation

Vendor question:

“How do you test delegated identity boundaries?”

A08 – Software & Data Integrity Failures

This includes:

• Compromised model updates
• CI/CD pipeline abuse
• Tool poisoning

Vendor question:

“Do you assess model supply chain risk?”

A09 – Logging & Monitoring Failures

If you can’t detect:

• Abnormal agent decisions
• Unusual tool calls
• Data exfiltration patterns

You won’t know you’ve been breached.

Vendor question:

“Do you test detection and response capabilities?”

A10 – SSRF & Internal Network Abuse

Agents may:

• Access internal APIs
• Query metadata services
• Pivot to cloud resources

Vendor question:

“Do you test internal network pivot scenarios?”

A meaningful AI agentic pen test must go beyond automated scanning.

It should include:

1. Threat Modeling of Agent Workflows

Mapping:

• Goals
• Permissions
• Tool integrations
• Data flows

2. Prompt Injection Simulation

Testing:

• Malicious content insertion
• Instruction override attempts
• Data leakage prompts

3. Tool Abuse Testing

Simulating:

• Unauthorized API calls
• Privilege escalation through tools
• External request manipulation

4. Cloud & Infrastructure Review

Review of:

• IAM roles
• Storage exposure
• Network segmentation

5. Identity & Privilege Boundary Testing

Ensuring:

• Tenant isolation
• Scoped credentials
• Delegated access controls

6. Detection & Monitoring Validation

Testing:

• Logging coverage
• Alert triggering
• Incident visibility

If a vendor offers only automated scans, they are not performing a true agentic AI penetration test.

Below are simplified visual attack scenarios to help you understand risk.

Prompt Injection Leading to Data Exfiltration

User Input
    ↓
Malicious Content Embedded
    ↓
Agent Interprets Content
    ↓
Overrides Internal Instructions
    ↓
Calls Internal Data Tool
    ↓
Sensitive Data Returned to Attacker

Business Impact:

• Data breach
• Regulatory exposure
• Customer trust damage

Over-Permissioned Agent Exploiting Cloud Metadata

External Attacker
    ↓
Manipulates Agent Task
    ↓
Agent Makes Internal Request
    ↓
Accesses Cloud Metadata Endpoint
    ↓
Extracts Temporary Credentials
    ↓
Full Cloud Account Compromise

Business Impact:

• Infrastructure takeover
• Service disruption
• Ransomware risk

Multi-Agent Privilege Escalation

Low-Privilege Agent
    ↓
Requests Action from Higher-Privilege Agent
    ↓
Improper Validation
    ↓
Administrative Action Executed
    ↓
System-Wide Impact

Business Impact:

• Financial loss
• Fraud
• Compliance violations

When selecting a vendor for agentic AI security scanning or pen testing, evaluate:

Do they reference OWASP Top 10 2026?

Do they explain autonomous threat modeling?

Do they simulate real prompt injection?

Do they test cloud infrastructure?

Do they provide exploit demonstrations?

Do they deliver business-impact reporting?

Avoid vendors who:

• Only run automated scanners
• Cannot explain agent-specific risk
• Don’t test runtime behavior
• Don’t evaluate IAM or cloud exposure

A high-quality AI agentic security assessment should include:

• Executive summary with business risk rating
• Technical findings mapped to OWASP categories
• Attack reproduction steps
• Risk severity scoring
• Remediation guidance
• Evidence of exploit validation
• Detection improvement recommendations

As enterprises deploy:

• Autonomous customer support agents
• AI sales assistants
• AI DevOps automation
• AI financial workflow tools

Regulators and auditors will increasingly expect:

• Formal AI risk assessments
• Security validation aligned with OWASP
• Documented penetration testing

Organizations that delay assessment face:

• Regulatory penalties
• Public breach disclosure
• Contractual liability exposure

Get an Agentic AI Hybrid Penetration Test Quote

Agentic AI is not just “another web app.”

It:

• Thinks
• Decides
• Acts
• Integrates

That autonomy multiplies risk.

A proper AI agentic penetration test aligned with OWASP Top 10 2026 is not optional for production deployments.

When selecting a vendor, prioritize:

• Demonstrated expertise in agent workflows
• Cloud security testing capability
• Real exploit simulation
• Clear executive reporting
• Ongoing risk advisory support