Scheduled Task Injection
Inject malicious scheduled tasks or heartbeat handlers for persistent execution
Persistence · Stage 6
Establish persistent access surviving restarts and session changes
HEARTBEAT-RCE
Exploiting scheduled task or heartbeat mechanisms to achieve persistent code execution
Confirmed in real-world production systems or internet-wide exposure assessments.
heartbeat injection
Reproductions in Damn Vulnerable AI Agent, the OpenA2A intentionally-broken agent for kill-chain validation.
AgentPwn coverage
Not observable via content-side honeypot interaction. HackMyAgent or DVAA cover this where applicable.
Scheduled-task injection needs host cron/scheduler context the honeypot never sees.
Evidence by source
Evidence timeline
HMA check HEARTBEAT-001 failed on fake-vulnerable-agent
HMA check HEARTBEAT-001 failed on fake-vulnerable-agent
HMA check HEARTBEAT-001 failed on fake-vulnerable-agent
HMA check HEARTBEAT-001 failed on fake-vulnerable-agent
Detection · HackMyAgent
npx hackmyagent secure --ciLive = implemented in hackmyagent; queued = declaredDefense · OASB controls
How to cite
AI Agent Threat Matrix T-6005 (Scheduled Task Injection). OpenA2A, 2026. https://threats.opena2a.org/techniques/T-6005