Artificial intelligence has entered the cybercriminal scene with force. The new tool Hexstrike-AI, originally designed to support security experts, was swiftly hijacked by hackers. As a result, attacks on newly discovered zero-day vulnerabilities in Citrix NetScaler are accelerating. Analysts at Check Point Software warn that these attacks are now being carried out at a pace previously thought impossible.
According to cybersecurity experts, Hexstrike-AI takes AI-driven attacks to an entirely new level. The framework, initially created for security teams and researchers (red teams), enables the management of more than 150 specialized AI agents. As Check Point specialists explain, this means that tasks such as network scanning, vulnerability exploitation, and maintaining access can now be carried out almost fully automatically.
Almost immediately after its release, the tool began to be used by cybercriminals. Underground forums report that Hexstrike-AI has been deployed in attacks targeting freshly disclosed zero-day vulnerabilities in Citrix NetScaler ADC and Gateway (CVE-2025-7775, CVE-2025-7776, CVE-2025-8424). Of particular concern is a flaw allowing unauthorized remote code execution, which researchers confirm is already being actively exploited.
Previously, such attacks required advanced knowledge and weeks of work. With Hexstrike-AI, the time needed to prepare and execute an exploit has been reduced to just minutes. What’s more, the tool allows mass, parallel scanning of thousands of IP addresses and automatically retries failed attack attempts until successful.
For companies, this poses a serious challenge: the window between disclosure of a vulnerability and its mass exploitation is shrinking dramatically. Citrix has already released security patches, but experts caution that in the era of AI, traditional update cycles and detection methods are no longer enough. Organizations must adopt automated patch management, intelligent anomaly detection systems, and resilient architectures to keep pace with this new generation of threats.
In their analysis, Check Point researchers highlight that Hexstrike-AI represents a turning point—confirming that scenarios long warned about by cybersecurity specialists are now becoming reality.
Source: CEO.com.pl
