In cybersecurity, few words trigger more dread than ‘wormable’—a vulnerability that could be weaponized into a self-spreading worm. Now researchers at the University of Toronto have demonstrated something worse: an AI-driven worm that can’t be stopped by patching a single flaw, because it uses reasoning to detect and exploit different vulnerabilities as it spreads. In a new paper released yesterday, ‘AI Agents Enable Adaptive Computer Worms,’ the researchers explain that traditional worms exploit a single vulnerability—patch it, and you stop the spread. But AI agents go further: the worm they built generates tailored attack strategies, with no human intervention, by hijacking compromised machines and running open-weight LLMs to simultaneously reason and extend its reach.

Full report : University of Toronto researchers built a worm powered by open-weight AI that adapts to its targets.