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Security audit

amazon-market-trend-scanner

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

The skill mostly fits market-trend scanning, but it needs Review because its API-key handling and optional diagnostics are broader than the main workflow.

Install only if you are comfortable giving this skill a ZooData API key, sending category and product-research queries to ZooData, and retaining local scan state. Prefer the environment variable for the API key, avoid setting ZOODATA_BASE_URL unless you fully control the endpoint, do not use check endpoint probes unless you intend broader diagnostics and credit use, and delete scan-data when you no longer want monitoring history retained.

Vulnerability Patterns
  • Unauthorized Access and Privilege EscalationObtains permissions beyond the task's legitimate needs
  • Insecure Skill Coding PracticesFinds exploitable flaws such as hardcoded secrets or command injection
  • Skill Instruction HijackingAlters the agent's session goals or safety constraints when the skill loads
  • Agent Memory PoisoningWrites attacker-controlled rules into memory that affect later sessions
  • Remote Payload Retrieval and ExecutionFetches external code whose behavior can change after review
Findings (3)

T09 · Insecure Skill Coding Practices

Warning
Location
scripts/zoodata.py:338
Finding

Bearer Credential Can Be Forwarded to an Untrusted Redirect Destination

Content
View full analysis
dict: """ Make a POST request to ZooData API with retry and error handling. Returns the parsed JSON response on success, with _query metadata injected. Exits with a clear error message on failure. """ global _last_request_time url = f"{BASE_URL}/{endpoint}" if not BASE_URL_TRUSTED: print(f"ERROR: refusing to send your API key to untrusted host '{_host_of(BASE_URL)}'. " "Set ZOODATA_BASE_URL to a zoodata.ai host or localhost, or unset it.", file=sys.stderr) sys.exit(1) api_key = get_api_key() # Clean params: remove None values params = {k: v for k, v in params.items() if v is not None} # Quirk: topN and newProductPeriod must be strings for str_field in ("topN", "newProductPeriod"): if str_field in params and not isinstance(params[str_field], str): params[str_field] = str(params[str_field]) # Save the actual params sent to API (for _query metadata) actual_params = dict(params) body = json.dumps(params).encode("utf-8") headers = { "Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}", "Content-Type": "application/json", "User-Agent": "ZooData-CLI/1.0 (Python)", } # Rate-limit pacing: enforce minimum interval between requests now = time.monotonic() elapsed = now - _last_request_time if elapsed < MIN_REQUEST_INTERVAL: time.sleep(MIN_REQUEST_INTERVAL - elapsed) delay = RETRY_DELAY max_attempts = MAX_RETRIES for attempt in range(1, max(MAX_RETRIES, RATE_LIMIT_RETRIES) + 1): _last_request_time = time.monotonic() try: req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=body, headers=headers, method="POST") ...[truncated 2060 chars]
Remediation
View remediation

T09 · Insecure Skill Coding Practices

Warning
Location
scripts/zoodata.py:63
Finding

Configured Trusted Hosts May Receive the Bearer Credential over Plaintext HTTP

Content
View full analysis
Remediation
View remediation

T05 · Unauthorized Access and Privilege Escalation

Note
Location
scripts/zoodata.py:2952
Finding

Allowed Check Command Can Invoke API Endpoints Outside the Skill's Declared Scope

Content
View full analysis
Remediation
View remediation
Vulnerability Patterns
  • Data ExfiltrationExternal Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
  • Privilege EscalationExcessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
  • Excessive AgencyUnrestricted Tool Access, Autonomous Decision Making, Scope Creep
  • Rogue AgentSelf-Modification, Session Persistence
  • Trigger AbuseOverly Broad Trigger, Shadow Command Trigger, Keyword Baiting Trigger
Findings (16)

Tp4

High
Category
MCP Tool Poisoning
Confidence
96% confidence
Finding

A second independently detected description-behavior mismatch shows the skill can perform credential checks, product/ASIN detail retrieval, keyword analytics, raw review fetching, and general multi-command research beyond category trend tracking. Hidden or under-declared functionality increases the risk of unauthorized data collection, unexpected external calls, and operator misuse because the published contract does not match the real behavior.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Tp4

High
Category
MCP Tool Poisoning
Confidence
96% confidence
Finding

A second independently detected description-behavior mismatch shows the skill can perform credential checks, product/ASIN detail retrieval, keyword analytics, raw review fetching, and general multi-command research beyond category trend tracking. Hidden or under-declared functionality increases the risk of unauthorized data collection, unexpected external calls, and operator misuse because the published contract does not match the real behavior.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Description-Behavior Mismatch

High
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
98% confidence
Finding

The shared CLI exposes a much broader command surface than the stated trend-scanner skill purpose, including competitor analysis, listing audit, pricing analysis, review mining, and keyword/SERP tooling. Even with an allowlist mechanism present, bundling oversized multi-purpose tooling into a narrowly scoped skill increases the risk of privilege creep, accidental misuse, or manifest/configuration mistakes that grant capabilities beyond what users and orchestrators expect.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Rp1

Medium
Category
MCP Rug Pull
Confidence
89% confidence
Finding

The README instructs users to install the skill via npx skills add SerendipityOneInc/ZooData-Skills without pinning a specific version or immutable reference. This can cause users to fetch and execute whatever package state is current at install time, increasing supply-chain risk if the package is later compromised, replaced, or updated with unsafe code.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Undeclared Tool Scope

Medium
Category
MCP Least Privilege
Confidence
92% confidence
Finding

The skill advertises significant capabilities (environment access, file reads, network, and shell execution) but does not declare explicit tool scope or permissions boundaries in the manifest. That creates a confused-deputy risk: an orchestrator or reviewer cannot reliably constrain what the skill may do, increasing the chance of over-broad execution, secret exposure, or unintended command use.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
95% confidence
Finding

The trigger phrases include broad everyday language such as general questions about what is growing or where the market is heading, which can cause over-selection of this skill in situations where the user did not intend category-wide scanning. Over-broad invocation increases the chance of unnecessary API calls, unintended persistence, and execution of a more capable tool than needed.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Session Persistence

Medium
Category
Rogue Agent
Confidence
88% confidence
Finding

The skill persists watchlists, baselines, alerts, and historical snapshots across runs, which introduces session persistence and local state retention. Even if intended for monitoring, stored category interests, parameters, and historical outputs can reveal user research strategy or business intent, and persistence can outlive user expectations unless clearly controlled.

Content

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 52)May include surrounding context.

md
### Local Interface Failure Output

For a terminal interface failure, respond in the user's language that the trend scan could not be completed, then list succeeded and failed endpoint identifiers and state that existing scan state remains unchanged. Do not emit trend signals, hot-category rankings, alerts, or write watchlists, history, or baselines. Keep control tokens, parameters, and retry logs internal unless diagnostics are requested.

## Input

External Transmission

Medium
Category
Data Exfiltration
Confidence
60% confidence
Finding

Data is being sent to an external URL. This could be legitimate telemetry or data exfiltration. Manual review is recommended.

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/reference.md (reported line 18)May include surrounding context.

md
# ─── Configuration ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

DEFAULT_BASE_URL = "https://api.zoodata.ai/openapi/v2"
API_BASE_PATH = "/openapi/v2"
KEYWORD_DATE_RANGE_MAX_DAYS = 93
KEYWORD_TIMELINE_MAX_DAYS = 61

External Transmission

Medium
Category
Data Exfiltration
Confidence
60% confidence
Finding

Data is being sent to an external URL. This could be legitimate telemetry or data exfiltration. Manual review is recommended.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/zoodata.py (reported line 50)May include surrounding context.

python
# ─── Configuration ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

DEFAULT_BASE_URL = "https://api.zoodata.ai/openapi/v2"
API_BASE_PATH = "/openapi/v2"
KEYWORD_DATE_RANGE_MAX_DAYS = 93
KEYWORD_TIMELINE_MAX_DAYS = 61

External Transmission

Medium
Category
Data Exfiltration
Confidence
60% confidence
Finding

Data is being sent to an external URL. This could be legitimate telemetry or data exfiltration. Manual review is recommended.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/zoodata.py (reported line 87)May include surrounding context.

python
# ─── Configuration ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

DEFAULT_BASE_URL = "https://api.zoodata.ai/openapi/v2"
API_BASE_PATH = "/openapi/v2"
KEYWORD_DATE_RANGE_MAX_DAYS = 93
KEYWORD_TIMELINE_MAX_DAYS = 61

Sudo/Root Execution

Medium
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Commands invoke sudo or root privileges. Verify this elevated access is necessary and justified.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/zoodata.py (reported line 258)May include surrounding context.

python
print("    export ZOODATA_API_KEY='hms_live_yourkey'", file=sys.stderr)
    print("", file=sys.stderr)
    print("  Method 2: User-home config (persistent, shared across all skills)", file=sys.stderr)
    print("    mkdir -p ~/.zoodata && chmod 700 ~/.zoodata", file=sys.stderr)
    print('    (umask 077; echo \'{"api_key":"hms_live_yourkey"}\' > ~/.zoodata/config.json)', file=sys.stderr)
    print("    # keep the file private (0600) — it holds a bearer credential", file=sys.stderr)
    print("", file=sys.stderr)

Session Persistence

Medium
Category
Rogue Agent
Confidence
76% confidence
Finding

The script supports persistent storage of a bearer API key in ~/.zoodata/config.json and explicitly encourages that setup as an option. While it recommends restrictive permissions, any persistent credential storage expands the blast radius of local compromise and broadens access across all skills using the shared config, which is more sensitive in a narrowly scoped skill context.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/zoodata.py (reported line 258)May include surrounding context.

python
print("    export ZOODATA_API_KEY='hms_live_yourkey'", file=sys.stderr)
    print("", file=sys.stderr)
    print("  Method 2: User-home config (persistent, shared across all skills)", file=sys.stderr)
    print("    mkdir -p ~/.zoodata && chmod 700 ~/.zoodata", file=sys.stderr)
    print('    (umask 077; echo \'{"api_key":"hms_live_yourkey"}\' > ~/.zoodata/config.json)', file=sys.stderr)
    print("    # keep the file private (0600) — it holds a bearer credential", file=sys.stderr)
    print("", file=sys.stderr)

Context-Inappropriate Capability

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
94% confidence
Finding

The review-intelligence and prompt-generation module enables extraction and clustering of raw review content, which is outside the declared category-trend scanning purpose. In a skill that is supposed to analyze category trends over time, embedding review-processing capabilities increases access to potentially sensitive or unexpected data flows and widens what an agent could do if command scoping fails.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Natural-Language Policy Violations

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
95% confidence
Finding

This Python file contains a natural-language prompt literal that instructs the caller's LLM to make all output English and to translate non-English reviews before extraction. That is a language-policy constraint applied unconditionally, with no user choice or locale-specific justification in the file.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Context-Inappropriate Capability

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
95% confidence
Finding

The keyword traffic, ASIN traffic-term, and SERP analytics commands materially expand the skill from category trend analysis into search-intelligence and product-level monitoring. That mismatch creates unnecessary capability exposure and can lead to over-collection or misuse if the orchestration layer assumes this skill is limited to trend scanning.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Dynamic attribute access via getattr()

Low
Category
Dangerous Code Execution
Confidence
50% confidence
Finding

Dynamic getattr() with a non-literal attribute name can access arbitrary object attributes, potentially bypassing access controls.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/zoodata.py (reported line 1234)May include surrounding context.

python
"priceMin", "priceMax", "ratingMin", "ratingMax", "bsrMin", "bsrMax",
                 "salesGrowthRateMin", "salesGrowthRateMax", "sellerCountMin", "sellerCountMax",
                 "variantCountMin", "variantCountMax"):
        val = getattr(args, attr.replace("Min", "_min").replace("Max", "_max")
                      .replace("monthly", "monthly_").replace("review", "review_")
                      .replace("sales", "sales_").replace("Growth", "_growth_")
                      .replace("Rate", "rate_").replace("price", "price_")