🛰️ AI Finds Vulnerability at NASA Allowing Takeover of Space Missions

For a period of three years, communications between Earth and NASA spacecraft contained a serious flaw. This flaw could have allowed hackers to take control of important missions, such as the Martian rovers. And it was an artificial intelligence that spotted and corrected this vulnerability in just four days.

The problem was located in the CryptoLib software, used to protect exchanges between spacecraft and ground centers. If exploited by attackers, they could have sent malicious commands with full access rights, thereby endangering space infrastructure worth several billion dollars.


The cybersecurity algorithm from the California startup AISLE identified the problem in the authentication system. Unlike a remotely exploitable vulnerability, this one still required local access at a precise moment, which limited the possibilities of an attack. It remained dangerous, however, as it could be activated with stolen credentials, for example through phishing or the infection of a USB drive.

Despite repeated human checks of the code over three years, no one had detected this flaw. The automated tool from AISLE, powered by AI, examined the entire source code and flagged suspicious anomalies within days.

A rapid correction prevented any incident. This case shows the growing role of automated analyzers in cybersecurity. These tools operate continuously, adapt to software evolution, and offer permanent monitoring against constantly changing threats.

In the future, the use of such technologies could become widespread to protect space missions and other sensitive infrastructure. Automated analysis tools allow for a complete and rapid examination, thereby strengthening the robustness of systems against attacks.