{"id":"https://openalex.org/W7148922398","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z","title":"Autosecagent: a semi-automated AI-driven penetration testing framework through recursive memory and real-time RAG","display_name":"Autosecagent: a semi-automated AI-driven penetration testing framework through recursive memory and real-time RAG","publication_year":2026,"publication_date":"2026-04-03","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W7148922398","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S32326811","display_name":"The Journal of Supercomputing","issn_l":"0920-8542","issn":["0920-8542","1573-0484"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"The Journal of Supercomputing","raw_type":"journal-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"hybrid","oa_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z.pdf","any_repository_has_fulltext":false},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5126284163","display_name":"Abdallah Al-Sabbagh","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I36314861","display_name":"Beirut Arab University","ror":"https://ror.org/02jya5567","country_code":"LB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I36314861"]}],"countries":["LB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Abdallah Al-Sabbagh","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Beirut Arab University, Tripoli, Lebanon"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Beirut Arab University, Tripoli, Lebanon","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I36314861"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5132889163","display_name":"Eddy Abdo","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210090878","display_name":"Arab Open University","ror":"https://ror.org/00d260p98","country_code":"LB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I4210090878","https://openalex.org/I4210093932"]}],"countries":["LB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Eddy Abdo","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Cybersecurity and Forensics, Arab Open University, Beirut, Lebanon"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Cybersecurity and Forensics, Arab Open University, Beirut, Lebanon","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4210090878"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5059047296","display_name":"Khouloud Samrouth","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2696-2024"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I4210090878","display_name":"Arab Open University","ror":"https://ror.org/00d260p98","country_code":"LB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I4210090878","https://openalex.org/I4210093932"]}],"countries":["LB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Khouloud Samrouth","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Cybersecurity and Forensics, Arab Open University, Beirut, Lebanon"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Cybersecurity and Forensics, Arab Open University, Beirut, Lebanon","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I4210090878"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5132900616","display_name":"Ahmad A. A. Alkhatib","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I145019703","display_name":"Al-Zaytoonah University of Jordan","ror":"https://ror.org/04a5b0p13","country_code":"JO","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I145019703"]}],"countries":["JO"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Ahmad A. A. Alkhatib","raw_affiliation_strings":["Department of Cybersecurity, Alzaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan"],"raw_orcid":null,"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Department of Cybersecurity, Alzaytoonah University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I145019703"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5126345448","display_name":"Mahmoud Elkhodr","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I74899385","display_name":"Central Queensland University","ror":"https://ror.org/023q4bk22","country_code":"AU","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I74899385"]}],"countries":["AU"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Mahmoud Elkhodr","raw_affiliation_strings":["School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University, Sydney, Australia"],"raw_orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9904-7551","affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"School of Engineering and Technology, Central Queensland University, Sydney, Australia","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I74899385"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":3,"institutions_distinct_count":5,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5126345448"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I74899385"],"apc_list":{"value":2390,"currency":"EUR","value_usd":2990},"apc_paid":{"value":2390,"currency":"EUR","value_usd":2990},"fwci":0.0,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":0,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.63196226,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":false},"cited_by_percentile_year":null,"biblio":{"volume":"82","issue":"5","first_page":null,"last_page":null},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12479","display_name":"Web Application Security Vulnerabilities","score":0.25440001487731934,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12479","display_name":"Web Application Security Vulnerabilities","score":0.25440001487731934,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10734","display_name":"Information and Cyber Security","score":0.24089999496936798,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1710","display_name":"Information Systems"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10400","display_name":"Network Security and Intrusion Detection","score":0.052400000393390656,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1705","display_name":"Computer Networks and Communications"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/workflow","display_name":"Workflow","score":0.5569999814033508},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/scalability","display_name":"Scalability","score":0.5001000165939331},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/orchestration","display_name":"Orchestration","score":0.3650999963283539},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/context","display_name":"Context (archaeology)","score":0.3610000014305115},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/overlay","display_name":"Overlay","score":0.3601999878883362},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/asynchronous-communication","display_name":"Asynchronous communication","score":0.32600000500679016},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/plug-in","display_name":"Plug-in","score":0.3156000077724457},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/situation-awareness","display_name":"Situation awareness","score":0.3021000027656555},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/automation","display_name":"Automation","score":0.296099990606308}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.8790000081062317},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C177212765","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q627335","display_name":"Workflow","level":2,"score":0.5569999814033508},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C120314980","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q180634","display_name":"Distributed computing","level":1,"score":0.5340999960899353},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C48044578","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q727490","display_name":"Scalability","level":2,"score":0.5001000165939331},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C199168358","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3367000","display_name":"Orchestration","level":3,"score":0.3650999963283539},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779343474","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3109175","display_name":"Context (archaeology)","level":2,"score":0.3610000014305115},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C136085584","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q910289","display_name":"Overlay","level":2,"score":0.3601999878883362},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C151319957","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q752739","display_name":"Asynchronous communication","level":2,"score":0.32600000500679016},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C4924752","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184148","display_name":"Plug-in","level":2,"score":0.3156000077724457},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C145804949","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q478123","display_name":"Situation awareness","level":2,"score":0.3021000027656555},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C115903868","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q80993","display_name":"Software engineering","level":1,"score":0.2987000048160553},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C115901376","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q184199","display_name":"Automation","level":2,"score":0.296099990606308},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C206729178","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2271896","display_name":"Scheduling (production processes)","level":2,"score":0.2858000099658966},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C74912251","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6815727","display_name":"Memory footprint","level":2,"score":0.28349998593330383},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C123657996","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12271","display_name":"Architecture","level":2,"score":0.28349998593330383},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C36503486","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11235244","display_name":"Domain (mathematical analysis)","level":2,"score":0.28110000491142273},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C98214672","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1501923","display_name":"Penetration test","level":3,"score":0.27489998936653137},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C43126263","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q128751","display_name":"Source code","level":2,"score":0.27000001072883606},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2779585090","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3457762","display_name":"Resilience (materials science)","level":2,"score":0.26820001006126404},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C154945302","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11660","display_name":"Artificial intelligence","level":1,"score":0.26759999990463257},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C89505385","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q47146","display_name":"User interface","level":2,"score":0.2644999921321869},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C2780626000","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5936775","display_name":"Human-in-the-loop","level":2,"score":0.26269999146461487},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C160145156","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q778586","display_name":"Executable","level":2,"score":0.26159998774528503},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C207685749","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2088941","display_name":"Domain knowledge","level":2,"score":0.2590000033378601},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C95713431","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q631425","display_name":"Vulnerability (computing)","level":2,"score":0.2526000142097473}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":1,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S32326811","display_name":"The Journal of Supercomputing","issn_l":"0920-8542","issn":["0920-8542","1573-0484"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"The Journal of Supercomputing","raw_type":"journal-article"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"doi:10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z","pdf_url":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11227-026-08439-z.pdf","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S32326811","display_name":"The Journal of Supercomputing","issn_l":"0920-8542","issn":["0920-8542","1573-0484"],"is_oa":false,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":true,"host_organization":"https://openalex.org/P4310319900","host_organization_name":"Springer Science+Business Media","host_organization_lineage":["https://openalex.org/P4310319900","https://openalex.org/P4310319965"],"host_organization_lineage_names":["Springer Science+Business Media","Springer Nature"],"type":"journal"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"The Journal of Supercomputing","raw_type":"journal-article"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/F4320320980","display_name":"Central Queensland University","ror":"https://ror.org/023q4bk22"}],"has_content":{"grobid_xml":true,"pdf":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7148922398.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W7148922398.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":23,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W2051990174","https://openalex.org/W2278966593","https://openalex.org/W2952298682","https://openalex.org/W2972574632","https://openalex.org/W4229801112","https://openalex.org/W4322624235","https://openalex.org/W4390886977","https://openalex.org/W4393208022","https://openalex.org/W4397049698","https://openalex.org/W4399625707","https://openalex.org/W4402051207","https://openalex.org/W4402780289","https://openalex.org/W4403835869","https://openalex.org/W4405310461","https://openalex.org/W4406461453","https://openalex.org/W4407070057","https://openalex.org/W4407163436","https://openalex.org/W4407255624","https://openalex.org/W4411119257","https://openalex.org/W4411236263","https://openalex.org/W4412877164","https://openalex.org/W4414091921","https://openalex.org/W4414437166"],"related_works":[],"abstract_inverted_index":{"Abstract":[0],"Manual":[1],"penetration":[2,84,199],"testing":[3,85,200],"is":[4,14,274],"increasingly":[5],"inadequate":[6],"against":[7,290],"rapidly":[8],"evolving":[9],"cyber":[10],"threats,":[11],"as":[12,134,159,232,276,300],"it":[13],"time-consuming,":[15],"difficult":[16],"to":[17,61,105,126],"scale,":[18],"and":[19,48,50,73,93,116,136,154,161,202,215,226,265,282,288],"heavily":[20],"reliant":[21],"on":[22,66,177],"human":[23,87,222],"expertise.":[24],"Whilst":[25],"Artificial":[26],"Intelligence":[27],"(AI),":[28],"particularly":[29],"Large":[30],"Language":[31],"Models":[32],"(LLMs),":[33],"offers":[34],"automation":[35],"potential,":[36],"current":[37,142],"tools":[38,157],"suffer":[39],"from":[40,131],"poor":[41],"reasoning,":[42],"limited":[43],"context":[44,107],"retention,":[45],"low":[46],"scalability,":[47],"safety":[49],"misuse":[51],"concerns.":[52],"This":[53],"paper":[54],"introduces":[55],"AutoSecAgent,":[56],"an":[57,192],"AI-powered":[58],"platform":[59],"designed":[60],"address":[62],"these":[63,238],"limitations.":[64],"Built":[65],"the":[67,76],"adaptive":[68],"Agent":[69],"Zero":[70],"orchestration":[71,185],"framework":[72],"powered":[74],"by":[75],"cybersecurity-focused":[77],"DeepSeek":[78,227],"LLM,":[79],"AutoSecAgent":[80,125],"supports":[81,148],"semi-automated":[82,207],"end-to-end":[83,252],"under":[86,221],"oversight,":[88],"covering":[89],"vulnerability":[90,129,259],"discovery,":[91],"exploitation,":[92,261],"reporting":[94],"with":[95,156,191,212],"remediation":[96],"guidance":[97],"for":[98,198],"follow-up.":[99],"It":[100],"features":[101],"recursive":[102],"memory":[103],"embedding":[104],"maintain":[106],"across":[108,150,167,258],"complex":[109],"multi-step":[110,262],"attack":[111,139,263],"chains,":[112],"supporting":[113,233],"strategic":[114],"planning":[115],"situational":[117],"awareness.":[118],"Additionally,":[119],"real-time":[120,213],"Retrieval-Augmented":[121],"Generation":[122],"(RAG)":[123],"allows":[124],"source":[127],"up-to-date":[128],"data":[130],"repositories":[132],"such":[133,158],"NVD":[135],"CVE,":[137],"ensuring":[138],"strategies":[140],"incorporate":[141],"information.":[143],"Its":[144],"modular,":[145],"agent-based":[146],"architecture":[147],"scalability":[149,266],"diverse":[151],"network":[152],"environments":[153],"integrates":[155],"Metasploit":[160],"Nmap.":[162],"To":[163],"avoid":[164],"scattered":[165],"claims":[166],"multiple":[168],"design":[169,234,250],"elements,":[170],"this":[171,249],"study":[172,273],"focuses":[173],"its":[174],"core":[175],"contributions":[176,240],"two":[178,239],"tightly":[179],"coupled":[180],"points:":[181],"(i)":[182],"a":[183,204,216,277],"memory-centric":[184],"mechanism":[186],"(Recursive":[187],"Memory":[188],"Embedding,":[189],"RME)":[190],"explicit":[193],"operationalisation":[194],"of":[195],"context-loss":[196],"errors":[197],"trajectories":[201],"(ii)":[203],"reproducible,":[205],"tool-grounded,":[206],"workflow":[208],"that":[209,236,248],"combines":[210],"RME":[211],"retrieval":[214],"bounded":[217],"online":[218],"optimisation":[219],"loop":[220],"oversight.":[223],"Multi-agent":[224],"decomposition":[225],"domain":[228],"tuning":[229],"are":[230,298],"treated":[231,299],"choices":[235],"enable":[237],"rather":[241],"than":[242],"separate":[243],"innovations.":[244],"Experimental":[245],"results":[246],"indicate":[247],"improves":[251],"performance":[253],"over":[254],"representative":[255],"LLM-based":[256],"baselines":[257],"detection,":[260],"completion,":[264],"in":[267,280],"controlled":[268,281],"evaluation":[269],"settings.":[270,284],"The":[271],"empirical":[272],"positioned":[275],"proof-of-concept":[278],"validation":[279],"semi-realistic":[283],"Broader":[285],"operational":[286],"generalisation":[287],"comparison":[289],"additional":[291],"non-LLM":[292],"baseline":[293],"classes":[294],"(e.g.":[295],"scanner-only":[296],"pipelines)":[297],"future":[301],"work.":[302]},"counts_by_year":[],"updated_date":"2026-05-21T06:26:12.895304","created_date":"2026-04-04T00:00:00"}