Agentic hacker using ransomware to destroy AI models

Agentic hacker dubbed JADEPUFFER spotted wiping AI model artifacts.

Jul 21, 2026 12:24 PM 2 min read

Agentic hacker using ransomware to destroy AI models — Image credit: https://unsplash.com/@famouswebsites

An agentic hacking tool first spotted earlier this month is now targeting AI model data with new ransomware designed to destroy specially trained models.

Cloud security firm Sysdig said “agentic threat actor” JADEPUFFER was exploiting a vulnerability (CVE-2025-3248) in AI applications framework Langflow to deploy ransomware that wipes AI model artifacts.

In a blog post, Senior Director of Threat Research Michael Clark said the compiled, UPX-packed Go ransomware “targets approximately 180 file extensions, with a deliberately broad sweep of the modern AI/ML stack, including model checkpoints, vector databases, training datasets, and embedding indices in nearly every current format.”

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Noah Bovenizer

Noah Bovenizer is a senior reporter with The Stack. He previously covered the transportation sector for Global Data. He has a first class degree in journalism and has also worked as a newsreader for Gaydio.