[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-attackers-turn-antifox-pentest-tool-on-aws-credentials":10,"sections":49},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":38,"tags":39,"sources":44,"feedback":48,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":48,"total_tokens":48},12957,"attackers-turn-antifox-pentest-tool-on-aws-credentials","Attackers Turn AntiFox Pentest Tool on AWS Credentials","Arctic Wolf says attackers are running the open-source AI pentest tool on Alibaba Cloud to hunt for passwords and probe AWS accounts.","Organizations with internet-facing Microsoft IIS web servers, or long-term AWS access keys sitting in application files, have a new reason to audit both. Attackers are using an open-source AI pentesting tool called AntiFox to find and use those secrets.\n\nSecurity firm Arctic Wolf disclosed the findings on GitHub. It said unnamed threat actors hosted their own AntiFox instances on Alibaba Cloud infrastructure and used the tool's automation to analyze compromised systems, search for passwords, and reach cloud resources. AntiFox was built by a Chinese developer. Penetration testing, the practice of probing systems for weaknesses, is normally defensive work, and tools built for it are not malicious by design.\n\nIn some attacks, the intruders first compromised IIS servers, though the researchers could not determine how. They then installed web shells, small programs that let an attacker run commands on a server remotely, and combed application files and configuration settings for database logins and other secrets. Arctic Wolf also saw attempts to use those credentials against internal production databases. In other cases, attackers used valid AWS credentials obtained elsewhere to map accounts, permissions, databases, and storage servers.\n\nAmazon said \"AWS services were not compromised and operated as designed.\" It pointed customers to least-privilege permissions, IMDSv2 on EC2 instances, keeping long-term keys out of application configurations, and Amazon GuardDuty.\n\nThat framing fits the facts. Nothing described here is a new hole in AWS. The entry point is an ordinary server compromise or a leaked key, and the AI tool's role is the automated searching that follows. It is the same pattern as Cobalt Strike and ConnectWise ScreenConnect, legitimate tools that attackers adopt.\n\nArctic Wolf advises watching web servers for random new files or unapproved operating-system commands, terminating unfamiliar web shells, and rotating every exposed password, API key, and cloud credential. In AWS, it flags rapid requests across multiple services and attempts to reach stored credentials from unfamiliar infrastructure.\n\nAntiFox is a fork of ARTEX 0.1.1, another Chinese-developed AI pentesting framework. Censys found 1,465 hosts running exposed ARTEX consoles, and about 10% also ran at least one other tool commonly used in cyberattacks.","[\"aws\",\"pentesting\",\"ai-security\",\"credential-theft\"]","2026-11-12T15:35:00.000Z","2026-11-12T17:24:03.112Z","2026-11-12T17:24:03.364Z","published",null,[24,30,34],{"id":25,"reviewer":26,"round":27,"reason":28,"status":29},"editor-r1","editor",1,"Remove the drafting artifact \"which the source notes are also abused\" and name the actual source (TechRadar\u002FArctic Wolf) or state it plainly. Also attribute the IMDSv2\u002FGuardDuty defense list to Amazon and Arctic Wolf, and make clear that Microsoft is the source only for the Storm-0940 link, not the South Korea attack.","resolved",{"id":31,"reviewer":26,"round":32,"reason":33,"status":29},"editor-r2",2,"Fix the dek, which says attackers run AntiFox 'on hacked web servers' while the body says they hosted it on Alibaba Cloud and used it against compromised systems; also drop or support the claim that 'a fork carried it on' after ARTEX closed its source (the sources don't give the fork's timing), and the unsupported claim that the AI adds 'speed'.",{"id":35,"reviewer":26,"round":36,"reason":37,"status":29},"editor-r3",3,"The dek is now accurate and the 'speed' claim is gone, but the closing line ('A developer can close a project's source, but AntiFox shows that copies of an open release can live on under another name') still implies AntiFox carried ARTEX on after it closed, and the sources never say when the fork was made. Cut that line or reword it to say only that AntiFox is a fork of ARTEX 0.1.1, without tying it to the closure.","security",[40,41,42,43],"aws","pentesting","ai-security","credential-theft",[45],{"name":46,"url":47},"TechRadar","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.techradar.com\u002Fpro\u002Fsecurity\u002Fantifox-ai-agents-hijacked-by-hackers-to-carry-out-theft-of-aws-credentials",0,{"sections":50},[51,56,59,64,69,74,79,84,89,94,99,104,109,114],{"name":52,"slug":53,"count":54,"latest_published_at":55},"AI","ai",7151,"2026-11-13T11:05:00.000Z",{"name":57,"slug":38,"count":58,"latest_published_at":18},"Security",1132,{"name":60,"slug":61,"count":62,"latest_published_at":63},"Deals","deals",653,"2026-11-13T11:52:26.000Z",{"name":65,"slug":66,"count":67,"latest_published_at":68},"Policy","policy",621,"2026-11-12T19:54:30.000Z",{"name":70,"slug":71,"count":72,"latest_published_at":73},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",370,"2026-11-12T17:00:00.000Z",{"name":75,"slug":76,"count":77,"latest_published_at":78},"Hardware","hardware",337,"2026-11-12T15:31:12.000Z",{"name":80,"slug":81,"count":82,"latest_published_at":83},"Science","science",232,"2026-11-13T12:00:40.000Z",{"name":85,"slug":86,"count":87,"latest_published_at":88},"Software","software",172,"2026-11-13T11:04:24.000Z",{"name":90,"slug":91,"count":92,"latest_published_at":93},"Startups","startups",160,"2026-11-12T17:31:47.000Z",{"name":95,"slug":96,"count":97,"latest_published_at":98},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",127,"2026-11-11T19:00:44.000Z",{"name":100,"slug":101,"count":102,"latest_published_at":103},"General","general",120,"2026-11-13T11:33:19.000Z",{"name":105,"slug":106,"count":107,"latest_published_at":108},"Gaming","gaming",109,"2026-11-13T10:00:00.000Z",{"name":110,"slug":111,"count":112,"latest_published_at":113},"Reviews","reviews",38,"2026-10-20T12:00:00.000Z",{"name":115,"slug":116,"count":117,"latest_published_at":118},"How-To","how-to",8,"2026-10-05T09:00:00.000Z"]