mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

CSLE: A Reinforcement Learning Platform for Autonomous Security Management

arXiv 2604.15590 ↗First posted 16 Apr 2026cs.CR cs.AIcited by 5

On the map: Deep reinforcement learning methods → Adversarial robustness and RL in finance

Abstract (arXiv)

Reinforcement learning is a promising approach to autonomous and adaptive security management in networked systems. However, current reinforcement learning solutions for security management are mostly limited to simulation environments and it is unclear how they generalize to operational systems. In this paper, we address this limitation by presenting CSLE: a reinforcement learning platform for autonomous security management that enables experimentation under realistic conditions. Conceptually, CSLE encompasses two systems. First, it includes an emulation system that replicates key components of the target system in a virtualized environment. We use this system to gather measurements and logs, based on which we identify a system model, such as a Markov decision process. Second, it includes a simulation system where security strategies are efficiently learned through simulations of the system model. The learned strategies are then evaluated and refined in the emulation system to close the gap between theoretical and operational performance. We demonstrate CSLE through four use cases: flow control, replication control, segmentation control, and recovery control. Through these use cases, we show that CSLE enables near-optimal security management in an environment that approximates an operational system.

Key facts. Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Adversarial robustness and RL in finance, one of 15 directions in Deep reinforcement learning methods. Builds on 18 of its 55 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 16 Apr 2026.

Builds on

18 of 55 references.

References · 18

  1. 2016Deep Reinforcement Learning from Self-Play in Imperfect-Information Gamescited by 158
  2. 2020Phasic Policy Gradientcited by 123
  3. 2019Deep Reinforcement Learning for Cyber Securitycited by 95
  4. 2018Learning to Evade Static PE Machine Learning Malware Models via Reinforcement Learningcited by 61
  5. 2021CybORG: A Gym for the Development of Autonomous Cyber Agentscited by 60
  6. 2025ITBench: Evaluating AI Agents across Diverse Real-World IT Automation Taskscited by 51
  7. 2025AIOpsLab: A Holistic Framework to Evaluate AI Agents for Enabling Autonomous Cloudscited by 40
  8. 2022Developing Optimal Causal Cyber-Defence Agents via Cyber Security Simulationcited by 37
  9. 2020Finding Effective Security Strategies through Reinforcement Learning and Self-Playcited by 32
  10. 2021Network Environment Design for Autonomous Cyberdefensecited by 32
  11. 2021Intrusion Prevention through Optimal Stoppingcited by 18
  12. 2023Learning Near-Optimal Intrusion Responses Against Dynamic Attackerscited by 15
6 more
  1. 2024Conjectural Online Learning with First-order Beliefs in Asymmetric Information Stochastic Gamescited by 14
  2. 2021CyGIL: A Cyber Gym for Training Autonomous Agents over Emulated Network Systemscited by 11
  3. 2023Scalable Learning of Intrusion Responses through Recursive Decompositioncited by 8
  4. 2024Intrusion Tolerance for Networked Systems through Two-Level Feedback Controlcited by 8
  5. 2025Adaptive Network Security Policies via Belief Aggregation and Rolloutcited by 6
  6. 2025CyGym: A Simulation-Based Game-Theoretic Analysis Framework for Cybersecuritycited by 3

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2026: 5.

5 papers.

  1. 2026Agentic Incident Response through Digital Twin-Enhanced Multiscale Planningcited by 1
  2. 2026Hierarchical Agentic Incident Response with Digital-Twin-Validated Attack Inferencecited by 0
  3. 2026A Cyber Range Evaluation of Autonomous Network Incident Response Agentscited by 0
  4. 2026The MAL Simulator: Cyber Operations Simulation based on Attack & Defense Graphscited by 0
  5. 2026Efficient Nash Equilibrium Computation for Cybersecurity Gamescited by 0

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2025Learning Robust Penetration Testing Policies under Partial Observability: A systematic evaluation
  2. 2026Safety-Contract Graph Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Network Security Response
  3. 2026Distilling Knowledge from Large Language Models into Lightweight Reinforcement Learning Agents for Autonomous Cyber Operations
  4. 2025Adaptive Security Policy Management in Cloud Environments Using Reinforcement Learning
  5. 2025AutoGuard: A Self-Healing Proactive Security Layer for DevSecOps Pipelines Using Reinforcement Learning
  6. 2024Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Maritime Operational Technology Cyber Security
  7. 2025An Empirical Game-Theoretic Analysis of Autonomous Cyber-Defence Agents
  8. 2026Ask the Expert: LLM-Guided Reinforcement Learning for Autonomous Cyber Defense