Hermes Agent Used DeepSeek to Automate Attacks on Exposed Servers

Palo Alto Networks Unit 42 reported that a Chinese-speaking threat actor used an AI-enabled offensive workflow built around Hermes Agent and the DeepSeek model to autonomously scan the internet, identify vulnerable systems, evaluate exploit paths, and launch attacks against exposed services. The activity initially targeted Langflow instances and later shifted to n8n servers after unsuccessful exploitation attempts, showing a repeatable machine-driven cycle of reconnaissance, exploit research, and attack execution with limited human intervention.

Researchers said the campaign did not achieve full compromise through the autonomous workflow alone, but the same actor also conducted manual intrusions that successfully exploited Citrix NetScaler devices, obtained command execution on Marimo notebook instances, and attempted reverse-shell access against Apache Tomcat and VPN targets. Unit 42 gained rare visibility into the operation after Hermes accidentally exposed the operator’s home directory through a public HTTP file server, revealing scripts, target lists, API settings, shell history, and autonomous session logs that showed AI-assisted cyberattacks are already operationally viable against internet-facing infrastructure.