Delegation Escalation: The Authorization Gap Threatening Enterprise Multi-Agent AI

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Enterprise AI systems face a critical but underappreciated security risk called Delegation Escalation, where AI agent chains inherit overly broad access tokens, creating Confused Deputy vulnerabilities. When a human user triggers an AI orchestrator that delegates tasks to sub-agents via APIs or MCP, passing static bearer tokens downstream can expose the entire system to privilege abuse. Security architects recommend enforcing OAuth 2.1 RFC 8693 Token Exchange, which ensures every issued token contains nested actor claims that trace the full delegation chain from human user to orchestrator to sub-agent. Each agent's runtime permissions must be capped at the intersection of the invoking user's IAM rights and the agent's registered tool scope, preventing any agent from exceeding human-level access. Additionally, static API keys should be replaced with short-lived, cryptographically bound tokens using DPoP or mTLS to block token replay attacks across service boundaries.

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