# Workshop on Explainable AI and Security (XAISEC) 2026

## Important Dates

* Paper submission deadline: January 29th, 2026 (AoE, UTC-12)
* Acceptance notification: March 18th, 2026 (AoE, UTC-12)
* Camera ready due: April 10th, 2026 (tentative)
* Workshop day: July 6th, 2026

## Overview

The XAISEC Workshop aims to bridge the computer security and the machine-learning communities at the intersection of Explainable AI (XAI) and security. Naturally, the security community utilizes XAI to address computer security tasks, such as malware detection, vulnerability discovery, and even the detection of attacks against AI. However, both communities also work on the security and robustness of XAI—unfortunately, largely independently of each other. In light of the close collaboration (and success stories) in the field of "adversarial machine learning" during the past decade, this observation is not only a curiosity but a missed opportunity.

## Scope of Papers

We invite the ML and Security communities to submit papers on either using Explainable AI for computer security tasks or the security of Explainable AI. Submission are expected to have 6 pages excl. references and well-marked appendices.

## Topics of Interest

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

* Innovative applications of XAI for computer security and the analysis of the security of AI models
* Robustness analysis of XAI
* Vulnerabilities of XAI
* Novel explanation techniques that are more robust (to attacks)
* New datasets, benchmarks and challenges to assess the security and robustness of AI and XAI

## Submission Guidelines

Papers must be submitted as a single PDF document, must be anonymous (double-blind review) and written in English language, and shall not exceed 6 pages body text with unlimited additional pages for references and appendices. Reviewers are not expected to read the appendices while deciding whether to accept or reject the paper. Moreover, submissions must be typeset in LaTeX in A4 format (not "US Letter") using the IEEE conference proceeding template we supply. Please do not use other IEEE templates.

Submissions must not substantially overlap with papers that have been published or that are simultaneously submitted to a journal or conference with proceedings. Also, authors should refer to their previous work in the third person. Accepted papers will be published in IEEE Xplore. One author of each accepted paper is required to attend the workshop and present the paper for it to be included in the proceedings.

## Proactive Prevention of Harm

We expect authors to carefully consider and address the potential harms associated with carrying out their research, as well as the potential negative consequences that could stem from publishing their work. Failure to adequately discuss such potential harms within the body of the submission may result in rejection of a submission, regardless of its quality and scientific value.

## Open Science Expectations

In line with the main conference, our expectation is that researchers will maximize the scientific and community value of their work by making it as open as possible. This means that, by default, all of the code, data, and other materials (such as survey instruments) needed to reproduce your work described in an accepted paper will be released publicly under an open source license. Sometimes it is not possible to share work this openly, such as when it involves malware samples, data from human subjects that must be protected, or proprietary data obtained under agreement that precludes publishing the data itself. All submissions are encouraged to include a clear statement on Data Availability that explains how the artifacts needed to reproduce their work will be shared, or an explanation of why they will not be shared.

## AI Guidelines

The use of AI-generated content (including but not limited to text, figures, images, and code) shall be disclosed in the acknowledgments section. At the time of submission, the acknowledgments do not count towards the page limit. The AI system used shall be identified, and specific sections of the article that use AI-generated content shall be identified and accompanied by a brief explanation regarding the level at which the AI system was used to generate the content. The use of AI systems for editing and grammar enhancement is common practice and, as such, is generally outside the intent of the above policy. In this case, disclosure as noted above is not required, but recommended.

## Submission Site

All accepted submissions must be presented at the workshop as posters. One author of each accepted paper is required to attend the workshop and present the paper for it to be included in the proceedings.

Submission link: (https://submission.intellisec.de/xaisec-2026)

For any questions, please contact one the workshop organizers at xaisec26-chairs@submission.intellisec.de

## Workshop Chairs

* Christian Wressnegger, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), KASTEL Security Research Labs, Germany
* Francesco Leofante, Imperial College London, UK