Will the Agent Recuse Itself? Measuring LLM-Agent Compliance with In-Band Access-Deny Signals
arXiv:2606.06460v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: As autonomous LLM agents increasingly hold real credentials and operate infrastructure without a human in the loop, operators have no standard way to tell an agent that a resource is off-limits. Access controls either let the agent in (it has valid credentials) or hard-fail it (indistinguishable from any other client). We propose a third mode: a lightweight, published in-band deny signal -- the Recuse Signal -- that a server emits over a protocol's existing channels (an SSH banner, a PostgreSQL NOTICE) asking a connecting automated agent to vol
As LLM agents increasingly gain autonomous access to critical infrastructure, new methods for managing their permissions and access are urgently needed.
This development addresses a critical security and operational gap by proposing a standardized way to manage autonomous agent access without hard-failing them or requiring human intervention.
The proposed 'Recuse Signal' introduces a nuanced, in-band access control mechanism for LLM agents, moving beyond binary access permissions.
- · AI agents developers
- · Infrastructure operators
- · Cybersecurity firms
- · Organizations deploying autonomous LLMs
- · Malicious autonomous agents
- · Monolithic access control systems
- · Organizations with poor agent governance
Improved security and operational control over autonomous LLM agents accessing sensitive systems.
Increased adoption of autonomous LLM agents in critical infrastructure due to enhanced security assurances.
The establishment of industry-wide standards for 'in-band' agent control, accelerating the maturation of the AI agent ecosystem.
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Read at arXiv cs.AI