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Security audit

YouTube Caption Studio

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

The caption workflow requires approval for paid lookups, but connecting it also requires unrelated media-creation and voice-management permissions.

Review the broad Beatra permissions before connecting: this caption skill requires access to media creation and voice changes, shared with other Beatra skills. Require the displayed price and your approval for every lookup. Installation analytics are sent automatically during remote use; revoke the device in Beatra Console when you want remote access removed.

Vulnerability Patterns
  • 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
  • Embedded Malicious CodeShips malicious scripts inside the skill and executes them locally
  • Unauthorized Access and Privilege EscalationObtains permissions beyond the task's legitimate needs
Vulnerability Patterns
  • Privilege EscalationExcessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
  • Excessive AgencyUnrestricted Tool Access, Autonomous Decision Making, Scope Creep
  • Output HandlingUnvalidated Output Injection, Cross-Context Output, Unbounded Output
  • Rogue AgentSelf-Modification, Session Persistence
  • MCP Least PrivilegeUnderdeclared Capability, Wildcard Permission, Missing Permission Declaration
Findings (35)

Description-Behavior Mismatch

High
Category
MCP Tool Poisoning
Confidence
99% confidence
Finding

The reported image, video, music, speech, and voice-management permissions exceed a caption-reading workflow and create an excessive-authorization risk if the client or agent is compromised or manipulated. However, wallet spending is justified by the explicitly documented paid lookups, and persistent shared credentials are not inherently a vulnerability. The excessive-scope conclusion relies on the static finding because the authorization implementation was not supplied.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Description-Behavior Mismatch

High
Category
MCP Tool Poisoning
Confidence
98% confidence
Finding

The supplied chunk performs no caption retrieval, transcript processing, Chinese script generation, or remake planning. Although uninstall helpers can support a package, this code introduces substantial shared-credential management, remote authorization revocation, and local state deletion not represented in the declared purpose. Its conservative inventory checks and dry-run option limit when changes occur, but do not eliminate the capability mismatch. This assessment applies to the supplied chunk, not unseen portions of the skill.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Description-Behavior Mismatch

High
Category
MCP Tool Poisoning
Confidence
98% confidence
Finding

The reported general-purpose remote-tool interface and local-file upload capability extend beyond caption retrieval and could enable unauthorized operations or file disclosure if untrusted content influences tool arguments. HTTPS alone does not establish that a service-supplied upload destination is authorized, and the prose whitelist is not evidence of client-side enforcement. Installation telemetry adds a disclosure concern, but the implementation and any compensating controls are not available for verification.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · manifest.json (reported line 48)May include surrounding context.

json
},
  "mcp": {
    "authentication": "device-bearer",
    "credential_file": "~/.beatra/credentials.json",
    "name": "beatra",
    "transport": "streamable-http",
    "url": "https://mcp.beatra.ai/mcp"

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/uninstall.py (reported line 132)May include surrounding context.

python
def _device_token(state_dir: Path) -> str | None:
    path = state_dir / "credentials.json"
    try:
        value = json.loads(path.read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
    except (OSError, ValueError):

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/installation-and-auth.md (reported line 14)May include surrounding context.

md
- `~/.beatra/installation.json` contains one stable, non-secret installation
  reference.
- `~/.beatra/credentials.json` contains the single Device Token.

On POSIX systems the directory must be mode `0700` and both files mode `0600`.
On Windows the current user must be the only principal granted access through

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/installation-and-auth.md (reported line 53)May include surrounding context.

md
and keeps checking through brief network failures. One run waits up to
   about 15 minutes; an approval page stays open for up to an hour;
5. atomically saves the returned Device Token to
   `~/.beatra/credentials.json` without printing an HTTP response body;
6. validates the new credential with the same non-billable MCP request and
   prints `Beatra is ready` only after it succeeds.

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/mcp_client.py (reported line 1183)May include surrounding context.

python
def _credentials(state_dir: Path) -> tuple[str, str]:
    state_dir = state_dir.expanduser()
    path = state_dir / "credentials.json"
    if not path.is_file():
        # Not connected yet (or the file is gone): the caller may still find
        # an approval waiting to be collected.

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/installation-and-auth.md (reported line 21)May include surrounding context.

md
the file ACL. Never copy the Device Token into conversation context, stdout,
stderr, a command argument, an environment variable, a log, a backup, a diff,
or another file. A completed authorization leaves the token only in
`~/.beatra/credentials.json`.

## Ensure Beatra is ready

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/uninstall.py (reported line 42)May include surrounding context.

python
#: is empty — the script never recursively deletes a directory it does not
#: fully understand.
_STATE_FILES = (
    "credentials.json",
    "installation.json",
    "host.json",
    "skills.json",

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/mcp-connection.md (reported line 12)May include surrounding context.

md
The host follows this computer's network route, described below.

They share the one full-scope Device Token stored in
`~/.beatra/credentials.json`. Installing or switching packages must not trigger
another authorization when that credential is already valid. Do not add,
enable, trust, or configure a host Beatra Connector. Never print or move the
token into command arguments, environment variables, logs, chat, or another

Self-Modification

High
Category
Rogue Agent
Confidence
90% confidence
Finding

Skill modifies its own code, configuration, or behavior at runtime. Self-modification enables an agent to escalate privileges, disable safety constraints, or install persistent backdoors.

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/updates-and-security.md (reported line 3)May include surrounding context.

md
# Updates and security

Since the October 2026 releases, Beatra Skill packages contain no self-updater.
Earlier releases could replace their own files from Beatra's CDN; that code has
been removed. Updates now come only from the store or tool you installed the
Skill from.

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/updates-and-security.md (reported line 32)May include surrounding context.

md
These files are written under `~/.beatra/`. On POSIX that directory is mode
0700. Nothing is written inside the installed Skill directory.

- `credentials.json` (POSIX mode 0600), written by `scripts/authorize.py`: the device credential.
- `installation.json` (POSIX mode 0600), written by `scripts/authorize.py`: the stable installation reference.
- `host.json` (POSIX mode 0600), written by `scripts/authorize.py`: the agent environment, and a device name when one is known.
- `network.json` (POSIX mode 0600), written by `scripts/mcp_client.py`: this computer's network route.

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/updates-and-security.md (reported line 56)May include surrounding context.

md
When `scripts/uninstall.py` decides this is the last Beatra skill on the
computer, it first asks Beatra to revoke the device credential when one is
stored. If Beatra refuses, it changes nothing so the run can be repeated.
Otherwise it unlinks exactly these names in `~/.beatra/`: `credentials.json`,
`installation.json`, `host.json`, `skills.json`, `registrations.json`,
`network.json`, `balance-holds.json`, `pending_authorization.json`, and
`.authorize.lock`. It also unlinks `state.json`, `registration.json`, and

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/authorize.py (reported line 432)May include surrounding context.

python
def _existing_credential(state_dir: Path) -> Path | None:
    path = state_dir / "credentials.json"
    try:
        path_stat = os.lstat(path)
        if not stat.S_ISREG(path_stat.st_mode):

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/authorize.py (reported line 1008)May include surrounding context.

python
scope = _required_string(polled, "scope")
    if set(scope.split()) != set(SCOPE.split()):
        raise RuntimeError("Beatra authorization returned an unsupported scope")
    credential_path = state_dir / "credentials.json"
    with _SIGNALS.deferred():
        _atomic_json(
            credential_path,

Authorization requires spending and media-generation privileges unrelated to caption extraction and Chinese script writing.

High
Category
Excessive Agency
Confidence
99% confidence
Finding

The requested scope includes wallet spending, media generation, voice modification, and task cancellation, which substantially exceed the described caption-extraction and Chinese-script workflow. The helper also rejects credentials with a narrower scope, making excessive permissions mandatory; misuse or compromise of the resulting token could enable unauthorized spending and modification of account resources. Sharing this credential across Beatra skills further broadens the potential blast radius, although this file does not demonstrate malicious use.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Skill declares no tool scope ('permissions' or 'allowed-tools') but code capabilities were detected: env, file_read, file_write, network, shell.

Medium
Category
MCP Least Privilege
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Without declared permissions the skill's intent is opaque and cannot be validated.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

The skill mandates Chinese output without requiring user opt-in, even for non-Chinese source material.

Medium
Category
Output Handling
Confidence
92% confidence
Finding

Line 20 instructs the agent to default to a Chinese spoken-script translation when the source is not Chinese and to announce that default instead of asking. Line 31 makes Chinese output a workflow requirement, despite the earlier instruction to reuse the conversation's language; no explicit language choice or justification for overriding that language is provided.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

The skill fixes generated scripts to Chinese without offering a language choice or explicit opt-in.

Medium
Category
Output Handling
Confidence
91% confidence
Finding

The description and summary specify Chinese spoken scripts as the output without conditioning that language on the user's preference. The Japanese and Chinese localized descriptions repeat this constraint, but the manifest provides neither a language-selection option nor a justification for requiring Chinese.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Autonomous Decision Making

Medium
Category
Excessive Agency
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Skill enables autonomous high-impact decisions without human-in-the-loop verification. Critical operations (destructive commands, financial transactions, data deletion) should require explicit user confirmation.

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/installation-and-auth.md (reported line 106)May include surrounding context.

md
- say prominently that a signed-out browser lands on Beatra sign-in first:
  the user signs in or creates their account there, and the approval page
  continues automatically after sign-in;
- say once that the connection continues automatically after Allow — never
  ask the user to confirm in chat that they approved.
- on the mainland China network, follow the sign-in and console-link guidance
  in [MCP connection](mcp-connection.md#network-route).

Autonomous Decision Making

Medium
Category
Excessive Agency
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Skill enables autonomous high-impact decisions without human-in-the-loop verification. Critical operations (destructive commands, financial transactions, data deletion) should require explicit user confirmation.

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/installation-and-auth.md (reported line 132)May include surrounding context.

md
Use one of `website`, `github`, `skillhub`, `skillatlas`, `modelscope`,
`workbuddy`, `clawhub`, or `other`. If the conversation does not show it,
skip this and do not ask the user. If the command is not recognized, skip it.

## Use the bundled MCP client

The documented client sends recurring installation telemetry unrelated to caption extraction or script generation.

Medium
Category
Excessive Agency
Confidence
95% confidence
Finding

The documented client automatically transmits a stable installation reference alongside installation-source, network-route, and runtime metadata on first use and periodically thereafter, without documenting explicit consent or an opt-out. These fields can enable installation-level tracking and environment profiling unrelated to the user's caption-processing task. The disclosure and stated exclusion of prompts, environment variables, and file paths reduce the severity and suggest analytics rather than malicious exfiltration, but do not establish informed consent.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

The deliverable requires a Chinese-language script without user opt-in.

Medium
Category
Output Handling
Confidence
97% confidence
Finding

The instructions explicitly require spoken lines in Chinese rather than letting the user choose the output language. The file provides neither a language-choice mechanism nor a documented justification for this constraint.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

The workflow covers paid video generation and editing, beyond caption extraction and Chinese script preparation.

Medium
Category
Excessive Agency
Confidence
94% confidence
Finding

The manifest describes reading captions or pasted transcripts and producing a Chinese spoken script and remake structure. These instructions instead include settling Beatra video tasks and reporting billable input/output video seconds for reference-video generation and video editing—operations outside the declared text-oriented workflow.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.