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An AI agent may decide what action to propose, but it must not decide whose permissions authorize that action. Before a tool or API executes, an independent authorization layer should verify the authenticated user or system, the agent’s delegated scope, the requested operation, and the target resource. That boundary prevents a model’s guess—or content that manipulates it—from becoming a grant of authority.
What is an acting subject?
The acting subject is the principal whose authority applies to a particular operation. It might be the signed-in user, an organization, or a service identity running an automated job. In delegated work, the agent also needs its own identifiable identity: the record should show both which agent acted and which user or system authorized its work.
Those identities answer different questions. The agent identity identifies the software actor; the originating principal identifies the authority behind the delegation. Treating them as interchangeable obscures who authorized an action and makes it harder to constrain or investigate it. NIST’s [identity and authorization for agents project] frames identity, authentication, authorization, delegation, and auditability as implementation concerns, rather than assuming a model’s account selection settles them.
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A model can interpret a task and propose a workflow, but its output is not proof that a user or system authorized the action. A tool-using agent may encounter untrusted pages, documents, messages, tool descriptions, or inter-agent content. If the agent can respond to that content by selecting a more privileged account, reusing another user’s authority, or forwarding credentials without a scope check, the component exposed to manipulation is also deciding what authority applies.
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OWASP’s AI Agent Security Cheat Sheet advises not to rely solely on model output for authorization decisions. Instead, an independent enforcement point should check the principal, operation, resource, and delegated scope before execution. A principal name included in model-generated text is not evidence that the agent is entitled to act as that principal.
The confused-deputy connection
AWS defines the confused deputy problem as a situation in which an entity without permission coerces a more-privileged entity into performing an action. That established security concept is a useful analogy when an agent misuses authority it holds on behalf of another principal. It does not mean that every prompt injection is a confused-deputy attack; the relevant risk is authority being misapplied across a trust boundary. See AWS’s explanation of the confused deputy problem.
What should the agent be allowed to decide?
The restriction is about authority, not planning. An agent can interpret a request, suggest a workflow, identify a likely user context, or ask a clarifying question. It must not grant itself authority or switch to another principal merely because its model predicts that identity is appropriate. Trusted application context and policy may select an allowed principal or reject the action; the model’s guess cannot replace that check.
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How to bind an agent action to authority safely
1. Give the agent a distinct, attributable identity
Use an identity for the agent that can be constrained, audited, and revoked, and bind its operation to the user or system running it as appropriate. NIST’s publication “Back to the Future: Why Agentic AI Needs a Strong Identity Foundation” says agents need unique identifiers, credentials, and entitlements bound to the identity of the user or system operating them. The agent identity should preserve that relationship, not erase it.
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2. Delegate only the authority the task needs
Use task-scoped permissions rather than broad ambient credentials wherever possible. Limit the allowed operations and resources, and make the delegation revocable and time-bounded where the system supports it. OWASP states: “Apply least privilege to all agent tools and permissions.” NIST’s concept paper announcement of February 5, 2026 raises least privilege, proof of authority, and “on behalf of” delegation as questions for standards-based agent identity and authorization work.
3. Check authorization at the execution boundary
Pass authenticated principal and delegation context through trusted application mechanisms to the tool, API, or data boundary. Before an operation executes, that boundary should check whether the principal may perform the requested action on the target resource within the delegated scope. Do not use a principal name supplied only in model-generated text as the credential or authorization decision.
For multi-agent workflows, treat messages and handoffs as trust boundaries. Microsoft’s agent identity guidance places responsibility for instructions, tools, permissions, orchestration, memory, identity, and authorization with the deploying organization, and calls for attention to trust boundaries in agent systems.
4. Keep high-risk approval independent
For high-risk actions, require human review outside the agent’s own judgment. For irreversible operations, separate the agent’s decision or proposal from execution so that the action cannot proceed solely because the same agent recommended it. OWASP’s agent security guidance recommends human oversight for high-risk actions and separating decision-making from execution for irreversible operations.
5. Preserve evidence of the delegation chain
Record the agent identity, originating principal, delegated scope, proposed action, authorization decision, and execution result. Preserve relevant context across handoffs, and make it possible to revoke access if the delegation is no longer valid. NIST’s agent identity and authorization work explicitly raises auditing and non-repudiation. Its resource hub summarizes public comments favoring persistent trust anchors alongside ephemeral, tightly scoped credentials and authorizations, and preservation of authorization context across delegation chains. Those are commenters’ views, not a finalized NIST requirement.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to evaluate an agent authorization design
- Attribution: Can logs distinguish the agent from the user or system behind its delegation?
- Scope and expiry: Are permissions limited to the task, and can access be revoked?
- Enforcement: Does the tool, API, or data boundary check authority independently of model output?
- Delegation: Does each handoff preserve or narrow the existing authority rather than silently widening it?
- Approval: Do high-risk or irreversible actions receive independent review or execution controls?
- Audit and recovery: Can an operator determine what happened, whose authority was used, and how to stop further access?
What NIST’s current work does—and does not—establish
NIST NCCoE announced a concept paper on February 5, 2026, seeking feedback on standards-based identity and authorization for software and AI agents. The project and related resources describe active work and public input; they are not a completed certification, binding regulation, or settled implementation standard. The practical security principle remains clear: the agent can request or propose an action, but a trusted authorization mechanism must bind it to an authenticated principal and enforce the limits of the delegation before execution.
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