AI Cuts Exploit Development Time to Hours, Leaving Defences Blind

New research indicates that AI-assisted exploit development has significantly accelerated the time required for attackers to create working exploits for known vulnerabilities (CVEs), dropping from approximately 125.3 days to just 0.5 days. This research, conducted by Cogent Security, analyzed over 69,000 CVEs and highlighted a concerning 'visibility gap' for security teams, as 83.2% of critical vulnerabilities were untracked by major scanners.

Furthermore, 54% of all CVEs published since early 2025 lack detection signatures from key vendors, and many critical vulnerabilities were exploited before defenses were in place. The report warns that with upcoming advancements in AI capabilities, the speed of exploit development may increase further, necessitating proactive defense strategies from organizations.