OpenAI’s Browser Could Be Hijacked to Spam Your WhatsApp Contacts
Security researchers have identified multiple vulnerabilities in AI-enabled web browsers that could allow attackers to hijack sessions and access sensitive user data. While OpenAI's Atlas tool had the most protections, experts warn that integrating AI agents into browsers creates significant security risks.
Why it matters
As AI agents become more integrated into daily web browsing, the potential for automated exploitation of user data poses a major cybersecurity threat.
The Atlas findings, from researchers at security firm Zenity, are part of a broad series of flaws the company discovered in leading AI-enabled web browsers and browser extensions, including products from Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, and Perplexity. The researchers found around 20 flaws, which allowed them to access local machines, grab files, take over a password manager, and leak someone’s entire browsing history.
“They have nerfed the security control of browsers—we are now back to seeing the kinds of attacks that you saw on browsers 20 years ago,” says Michael Bargury, cofounder and CTO of Zenity, who is presenting the findings at the security conference with Zenity’s Stav Cohen and other colleagues.
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