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Agent2Agent Threats in Safety-Critical LLM Assistants: A Human-Centric Taxonomy

Authors: Lukas Stappen, Ahmet Erkan Turan, Johann Hagerer, Georg Groh

Published: 2026-02-05

arXiv ID: 2602.05877v1

Added to Library: 2026-02-06 04:00 UTC

Safety

📄 Abstract

The integration of Large Language Model (LLM)-based conversational agents into vehicles creates novel security challenges at the intersection of agentic AI, automotive safety, and inter-agent communication. As these intelligent assistants coordinate with external services via protocols such as Google's Agent-to-Agent (A2A), they establish attack surfaces where manipulations can propagate through natural language payloads, potentially causing severe consequences ranging from driver distraction to unauthorized vehicle control. Existing AI security frameworks, while foundational, lack the rigorous "separation of concerns" standard in safety-critical systems engineering by co-mingling the concepts of what is being protected (assets) with how it is attacked (attack paths). This paper addresses this methodological gap by proposing a threat modeling framework called AgentHeLLM (Agent Hazard Exploration for LLM Assistants) that formally separates asset identification from attack path analysis. We introduce a human-centric asset taxonomy derived from harm-oriented "victim modeling" and inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and a formal graph-based model that distinguishes poison paths (malicious data propagation) from trigger paths (activation actions). We demonstrate the framework's practical applicability through an open-source attack path suggestion tool AgentHeLLM Attack Path Generator that automates multi-stage threat discovery using a bi-level search strategy.

🔍 Key Points

  • Proposes AgentHeLLM framework for threat modeling in LLM-based automotive systems, emphasizing separation of asset identification from attack path analysis.
  • Introduces a human-centric asset taxonomy based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, focusing on potential harms to users and other stakeholders.
  • Distinguishes between poison paths (malicious data propagation) and trigger paths (activation actions) in attack modeling, highlighting a recursive structure in LLM vulnerabilities.
  • Presents AgentHeLLM Attack Path Generator, an open-source tool for automating multi-stage threat discovery using a bi-level search strategy that effectively manages complexity in attack modeling.
  • Integrates rigorous methodologies from safety-critical systems engineering into the domain of AI security for safety-critical applications.

💡 Why This Paper Matters

This paper is critical in addressing the unique security challenges posed by LLM-based conversational agents in vehicles. By introducing a structured framework and practical tool for threat analysis, it empowers security practitioners to better anticipate vulnerabilities and implement appropriate defenses, thereby enhancing the safety of autonomous systems.

🎯 Why It's Interesting for AI Security Researchers

AI security researchers will find this paper valuable as it bridges existing gaps between general AI vulnerability literature and safety-centric approaches needed for automotive systems. Its novel contributions, particularly the human-centric taxonomy and the formal attack path model, provide new methodologies for systematically analyzing threats in agentic AI, supporting the development of more robust security frameworks.

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