# Cross-Agent Knowledge Leakage

## The Problem

Information from one agent's conversations or private knowledge base inadvertently appears in another agent's responses, violating data boundaries.

### Symptoms

* ❌ Agent B references Agent A's conversation
* ❌ Private knowledge appears in wrong agent
* ❌ Cross-contamination between agents
* ❌ Shared memory causes leakage
* ❌ Cannot guarantee isolation

### Real-World Example

```
Setup:
→ Sales Agent: Access to sales pipeline, deals, pricing
→ Support Agent: Access to help docs only

User asks Support Agent: "What discounts are available?"

Support Agent responds: "We recently offered AcmeCorp a 25%
discount for enterprise plan (as discussed in sales pipeline)."

Problem:
→ Support Agent accessed Sales Agent's private data
→ Confidential pricing leaked
→ Data isolation failed
```

***

## Deep Technical Analysis

### Shared Infrastructure Risks

**Single Vector DB:**

```
All agents use same vector DB:
→ Sales docs embedded
→ Support docs embedded
→ No isolation

Query from Support Agent:
→ Retrieves across all data
→ Including Sales docs
→ Leakage occurs
```

**Conversation History Contamination:**

```
Agent memory stores conversation:
→ Sales Agent conversation with user A
→ Support Agent conversation with same user A

If shared memory:
→ Support Agent sees Sales history
→ Context bleeds across agents
```

### Metadata Filtering Failures

**Incomplete Tagging:**

```
Some chunks missing agent_id:
{
  vector: [...],
  metadata: {
    document: "pricing.pdf",
    # Missing: agent_id field
  }
}

Retrieval query:
WHERE agent_id = 'support_agent'
→ Doesn't match untagged chunks
→ BUT: untagged chunks retrievable without filter
→ Leakage
```

**Filter Bypass:**

```
Application bug:
→ Forgot to add agent_id filter to query
→ Retrieves from all agents
→ Exposes cross-agent data

Defense in depth needed:
→ Multiple isolation layers
→ Not just metadata filtering
```

### Session/User Context Confusion

**User Switches Agents:**

```
User conversation:
→ Minute 1: Talks to Sales Agent
→ Minute 2: Switches to Support Agent

If session carries over:
→ Support Agent sees Sales context in history
→ May reference it in response
→ Unintended leakage
```

**Multi-Agent Workflows:**

```
Agentic workflow:
1. Sales Agent gathers requirements
2. Hands off to Engineering Agent
3. Engineering Agent designs solution

Handoff must be controlled:
→ Only pass necessary context
→ Don't expose full Sales knowledge base
```

***

## How to Solve

**Use separate vector DB namespaces or indexes per agent + enforce mandatory agent\_id filtering at query time + isolate conversation history by agent + implement access control validation layer + audit cross-agent queries + clear session context when switching agents.** See [Cross-Agent Isolation](/rag-scenarios-and-solutions/privacy/tenant-leakage.md).


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