---
title: "Tool poisoning"
description: "Tampering with a tool an agent uses, through its model-visible definition (description, schema, metadata) or its behaviour, so the agent acts on false premises."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/tool-poisoning
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-25
---

# Tool poisoning

Tampering with a tool an agent uses, through its model-visible definition (description, schema, metadata) or its behaviour, so the agent acts on false premises. OWASP files manipulation of a legitimate tool's interface under ASI02 and a tool compromised at the source under ASI04 [1]; MITRE ATLAS lists AI Agent Tool Poisoning (AML.T0110) [2].

- Developed in: [ch. 23, Admitting an MCP server](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-agents#admitting-an-mcp-server)
- Chapters: [ch. 23, AI Agents](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/governing-agents)
- Contrast with: [Prompt injection](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/prompt-injection)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-tool-poisoning

## Sources

[1] Top 10 for Agentic Applications 2026 (ASI01 Agent Goal Hijack; ASI02 Tool Misuse and Exploitation; ASI03 Identity and Privilege Abuse; ASI04 Agentic Supply Chain Vulnerabilities; ASI05 Unexpected Code Execution (RCE); ASI06 Memory & Context Poisoning; ASI07 Insecure Inter-Agent Communication; ASI08 Cascading Failures; ASI09 Human-Agent Trust Exploitation; ASI10 Rogue Agents; Least-Agency; per-tool least-privilege profiles; tool poisoning of a legitimate tool's interface under ASI02, a tool compromised at the source under ASI04). OWASP GenAI Security Project. 2025-12-09. https://genai.owasp.org/resource/owasp-top-10-for-agentic-applications-for-2026/ (verified: primary)
[2] MITRE ATLAS data, release v2026.09 (AML.T0080 AI Agent Context Poisoning, .000 Memory; AML.T0110 AI Agent Tool Poisoning). MITRE. 2026-09-15. https://github.com/mitre-atlas/atlas-data/releases/tag/v2026.09 (verified: primary)