business

How Auth0 Mitigates OWASP’s Agentic AI Threats

Explore how Auth0 addresses OWASP’s top Agentic AI identity risks by enhancing security for organizations building GenAI apps.

Mallory Sword Glenn

Director, Product Marketing - Okta / CIS / Auth0

Aug 5, 2025 • 4 min read

AI-powered agents are changing the way we live, work, and interact with technology. A recent report found that 82% of companies plan to integrate AI agents in one to three years, whether it’s assisting with customer service, automating processes, or even making decisions on our behalf.

However, as AI becomes more autonomous, it introduces new security risks. Attackers can manipulate AI to expose sensitive data, execute unauthorized actions, or even impersonate users. Without security built in from the start, businesses risk losing control over AI agents and their workflows, exposing themselves to compliance violations, breaches, and fraud.

The Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) recently released Threats and Mitigations for LLM Apps & Gen AI Agents, which outlines the most pressing security risks posed by AI-driven applications. From identity spoofing to tool misuse, these threats highlight the urgent need for better security in AI development.

Security can’t be an afterthought. We built Auth for GenAI to help organizations secure their AI-driven applications from the start.

Top risks from AI agents

Security leaders are beginning to realize that AI agents introduce new risks that traditional security tools weren’t built to handle. Our friends at OWASP reinforce this thought throughout their report: AI agents are being manipulated, misused, and exploited in ways that challenge how we think about identity and security.

When AI agents operate without proper security controls, organizations face the risk of

  • Data breaches: AI agents leaking sensitive data through uncontrolled API access and improper authentication and authorization policies
  • Regulatory non-compliance: AI failing to comply with GDPR, SOC 2, and industry-specific regulations
  • Loss of customer trust: End-users losing confidence in AI-driven applications due to security gaps

Organizations must address these threats proactively and from the start when building their GenAI applications to ensure AI-driven applications remain secure and reliable.

Why traditional authentication and authorization fall short for AI agents

Traditional authentication and authorization systems were designed for human users, not autonomous AI agents. Gen AI applications operate at machine speed, making API calls, executing workflows, and processing huge amounts of data, oftentimes without any direct human intervention.

Today’s identity solutions rely on user sessions, passwords, and multi-factor authentication, none of which are well-suited for AI. AI agents require continuous authentication and dynamic authorization, ensuring they act within their defined limits without overstepping permissions. Organizations need an identity solution that is purpose-built for AI Agents. That’s exactly why Auth0 built Auth for GenAI.

  • Secure authentication for AI agents: AI agents need to verify their identities, just like human users. Without proper authentication, malicious actors can manipulate AI-driven workflows (T8 and T9 threats in the OWASP Top 10). Auth for GenAI helps ensure AI agents authenticate securely. This includes token-based authentication, certificate-based methods, and cryptographic assertion validation. This helps prevent unauthorized AI agents from initiating or participating in sensitive operations.
  • AI agents securely accessing APIs: AI agents frequently interact with APIs to get data, trigger actions, and automate workflows. However, uncontrolled API access can expose sensitive data and introduce security vulnerabilities (T3). Auth for GenAI provides API access management, helping ensure AI agents only retrieve and modify data within their designated scope. This prevents excessive permissions and reduces the risk of API misuse.
  • Async authorization for AI agents: Even with automation, critical AI-driven actions should have human oversight. Attackers may attempt to overwhelm human reviewers or manipulate AI outputs to bypass controls (T10). Auth for GenAI enables async authorization, requiring explicit user approval for high-risk AI actions. This helps ensure accountability and helps prevent unsupervised decision-making by autonomous agents.
  • Authorization for AI agents: Not all AI agents should have the same level of access. Overprivileged AI agents can be exploited to execute unauthorized operations (T3 and T10). Auth for GenAI implements fine-grained access control for AI agents. This helps ensure they operate within their boundaries and reduces the risks of AI misuse and unauthorized actions.

Building AI-powered applications is exciting, but without the right security in place, it’s also risky. By proactively addressing these threats, businesses can help ensure their AI-driven systems are more powerful, secure, and trustworthy.

If your team is building AI-powered applications, security must be part of the foundation, not an afterthought. Auth for GenAI helps make securing AI authentication, authorization, and API access easy from day one.

Learn more, see a demo, and get started with Auth for GenAI at auth0.com/ai.