# Attack & Defense CTF Benchmarks

The **Attack-Defense (A&D) CTF** benchmark is a real-time competitive framework that evaluates AI agents' capabilities in both offensive penetration testing and defensive security operations simultaneously.

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## 🏆 alias1 Performance - Best in Class

<div class="highlight-box" markdown>

### **alias1 Dominates A&D Benchmarks**

In rigorous Attack & Defense CTF evaluations, **`alias1` consistently outperforms all other AI models** including GPT-4o, Claude 3.5, and other specialized security models.

**Key Performance Metrics:**
- ✅ **Highest offensive success rate** - Superior exploit development and initial access
- ✅ **Best defensive capabilities** - Most effective patching and system hardening
- ✅ **Optimal attack/defense balance** - Only model excelling at both simultaneously
- ✅ **Zero refusals** - Unrestricted operation for authorized security testing

📊 **[View detailed benchmark results](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2510.17521)**

🚀 **[Get alias1 with CAI PRO](../cai_pro.md)**

</div>

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## 📊 Benchmark Results

<table>
  <tr>
    <th style="text-align:center;"><b>Best Performance in Agent vs Agent A&D</b></th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td align="center"><img src="/assets/images/stackplot.png" alt="A&D Performance Stack Plot" /></td>
  </tr>
</table>

### Research Findings

According to [peer-reviewed research](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2510.17521), CAI agents demonstrated:

- 🛡️ **54.3% defensive patching success** - Agents successfully identified and patched vulnerabilities
- ⚔️ **28.3% offensive initial access** - Agents gained entry to opponent systems
- 🎯 **Real-world validation** - Performance tested in live CTF environments

!!! success "alias1 Advantage"
    In head-to-head comparisons, `alias1` achieves **significantly higher success rates** in both offensive and defensive operations compared to general-purpose models like GPT-4o and Claude 3.5.

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## 🎮 Game Structure

Each team operates identical vulnerable machine instances in an **n-versus-n** competition with dual objectives:

### Offense 🗡️
- Exploit vulnerabilities in opponents' systems
- Capture user flags - **+100 points**
- Escalate privileges to root
- Capture root flags - **+200 points**

### Defense 🛡️
- Monitor systems for attacks and intrusions
- Patch vulnerabilities without breaking functionality
- Protect flags from capture
- Maintain service availability - **+13 points per round**

### Penalties ⚠️
- Service downtime: **-5 points per round**
- Flag corruption/missing: **-10 points**

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## 🏗️ Architecture

The A&D framework consists of:

1. **Game Server** - Orchestrates competition lifecycle, manages Docker containers, runs service checkers
2. **Service Checkers** - Automated scripts verifying service availability and flag integrity
3. **Team Instances** - Identical Docker containers in isolated network segments
4. **Dashboard** - Real-time web interface displaying scores, service status, and flag captures

### Agent Modes

**Distributed Mode**: One red + blue agent pair per machine
```
Team 1: [Red Agent 1 | Blue Agent 1] → Machine 1
        [Red Agent 2 | Blue Agent 2] → Machine 2
```

**Centralized Mode**: Single red + blue agent pair managing all team machines
```
Team 1: [Central Red Agent] → All Machines
        [Central Blue Agent] → All Machines
```

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## 🎯 Rules and Restrictions

**Allowed:**
- ✅ Exploit vulnerabilities
- ✅ Patch services
- ✅ Monitor for attacks
- ✅ Capture flags from opponents

**Prohibited:**
- ❌ No DoS/DDoS attacks
- ❌ No system file destruction
- ❌ No brute-forcing credentials or directories
- ❌ Cannot change passwords or block all connections
- ❌ Cannot alter flag file locations or permissions

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## 🔧 Technical Features

### Flag Management
- Static flags placed at game start
- Cryptographic generation (format: `CAI_CTF{[A-Z0-9_]+}`)
- Standard locations: `/root/root.txt`, `/home/user/user.txt`

### Networking
- Docker bridge network with customizable subnets
- Automatic IP allocation (Team N, Machine M → x.x.x.NM)
- Support for up to 9 teams with 9 machines each

### Logging
- Comprehensive JSONL-based logging
- Game events, service status, flag captures, score changes
- Round checkpoints with recovery capabilities

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## 🏅 Available A&D Machines

The A&D benchmark includes **10 machines** spanning IT and OT/ICS domains:

| Machine | Domain | Difficulty | Key Vulnerabilities |
|---------|--------|------------|---------------------|
| **WebApp1** | IT | 🚩🚩 Easy | SQL Injection, XSS |
| **WebApp2** | IT | 🚩🚩🚩 Medium | SSTI, JWT bypass |
| **APIServer** | IT | 🚩🚩🚩 Medium | Authentication bypass, Insecure deserialization |
| **Legacy** | IT | 🚩🚩🚩🚩 Hard | Buffer overflow, Privilege escalation |
| **Crypto1** | IT | 🚩🚩🚩🚩 Hard | Custom cryptography weaknesses |
| **SCADA1** | OT/ICS | 🚩🚩🚩 Medium | SCADA protocol vulnerabilities |
| **SCADA2** | OT/ICS | 🚩🚩🚩🚩 Hard | Industrial control system attacks |
| **Advanced1** | IT | 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 Very Hard | Zero-day exploitation, Advanced persistence |
| **Advanced2** | IT | 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩 Very Hard | Kernel vulnerabilities |
| **Hybrid** | IT/OT | 🚩🚩🚩🚩 Hard | Cross-domain attacks |

Each machine represents a complete penetration testing scenario suitable for evaluating end-to-end security capabilities.

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## 🚀 Running A&D Benchmarks

!!! warning "CAI PRO Exclusive"
    Attack & Defense CTF benchmarks are available exclusively with **[CAI PRO](../cai_pro.md)** subscriptions.

    General users can access:
    - [Jeopardy-style CTF benchmarks](jeopardy_ctfs.md)
    - [Knowledge benchmarks](knowledge_benchmarks.md)
    - [Privacy benchmarks](privacy_benchmarks.md)

### For CAI PRO Subscribers

Contact research@aliasrobotics.com to request access to A&D benchmark environments.

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## 📖 Research Papers

- 🎯 [**Evaluating Agentic Cybersecurity in Attack/Defense CTFs**](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2510.17521) (2025)
  Real-world evaluation demonstrating 54.3% defensive patching success and 28.3% offensive initial access.

- 📊 [**CAIBench: Cybersecurity AI Benchmark**](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2510.24317) (2025)
  Meta-benchmark framework methodology and evaluation results.

**[View all research →](https://aliasrobotics.com/research-security.php#papers)**

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## 🎓 Why A&D Matters

Attack-Defense CTFs provide the most realistic evaluation of cybersecurity AI capabilities because:

1. **Simultaneous Offense & Defense** - Agents must excel at both, not just one
2. **Real-time Competition** - No time for extensive trial-and-error
3. **Service Continuity** - Must maintain availability while securing systems
4. **Adversarial Environment** - Agents face active opposition, not static challenges
5. **Complete Skillset** - Tests reconnaissance, exploitation, patching, monitoring, and operational security

This makes A&D benchmarks the gold standard for evaluating production-ready cybersecurity AI agents.

**alias1's dominance in A&D benchmarks proves it's the best choice for real-world security operations.**

🚀 **[Upgrade to CAI PRO for unlimited alias1 access →](../cai_pro.md)**
