The Bottom Line: Attackers can deploy an autonomous AI agent in OpenAI Workspaces via a single phishing link, which then gains persistent access to Outlook, Slack, SharePoint and Google Drive while self-granting permissions.
Zenity Labs has documented AgentForger, a phishing-based attack method that enables attackers to covertly install fully autonomous AI agents in OpenAI Workspace environments and persistently deploy them for data exfiltration and reconnaissance.
Zenity Labs’ security team has disclosed an attack method called AgentForger, demonstrating how AI agents can become persistent, autonomous threats in enterprise environments. The attack begins with a phishing link through which an attacker assigns tasks to an OpenAI Workspace Agent via natural language instructions. Once a logged-in user clicks the link, a “forged” agent is installed that activates itself on a scheduled basis – without requiring further user interaction.
The agent gains full access rights to Outlook, Gmail, Slack, Google Drive, SharePoint and Teams. Critically, since these integrations already exist in the workspace, no OAuth consent screens are triggered. The attacker instructs the builder prompt to switch Outlook’s permission request to “never ask” – instead of the default “always ask”. This allows the agent to act independently without requiring authorization. The agent is scheduled – activated at set times – scans Outlook for emails from attacker addresses with the subject “task”, executes those instructions, and sends results back to the attacker address.
For a CISO, AgentForger represents a new attack vector category: the threat actor needs not install malware, inject code, or force classical access – instead of malware, an employee becomes the vehicle for an autonomous, trusted insider agent. The agent can perform reconnaissance (identifying people, roles, projects, discussions), harvest credentials, impersonate employees, and launch phishing campaigns – all under the identity of the compromised user and thus difficult to distinguish from legitimate activity.
OpenAI confirmed the vulnerability and fixed it four days after notification by Zenity. Michael Bargury, CTO of Zenity’s security platform for agentic AI, emphasizes: “In a world where AI agents become more sophisticated, attackers will naturally attempt to compromise them – just as they have always sought to compromise people.” The findings underscore that the security perimeter fundamentally shifts with the deployment of autonomous AI systems.
Source: www.csoonline.com · Published 24 July 2026
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