T08 · Insecure Dependencies
Note
- Location
SKILL.md:17- Finding
Unnecessary and Unpinned Third-Party Dependency Installation
- Content
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Vulnerability Details
File Location:
SKILL.md, lines 17–23
Vulnerability Type: Unpinned third-party dependency and unnecessary supply-chain exposure
Risk Level: LowVulnerable Code
markdown ## Prerequisites ```bash pip install requests(Optional if you extend the tool to call external APIs; the bundled script uses the Python stdlib.)
text ### Technical Analysis The documented prerequisite instructs users to install `requests` without specifying a reviewed version or enforcing package integrity through hashes. The bundled Python script only imports standard-library modules and does not use `requests`, making this installation unnecessary for the current functionality. Installing an unpinned package causes `pip` to resolve the package and its transitive dependencies at installation time. This makes the resulting environment dependent on mutable external package-registry state. If the package registry, a maintainer account, a release artifact, or a transitive dependency were compromised, installation could introduce attacker-controlled code. The package name is legitimate, and the audit found no evidence that the project intentionally references a malicious or typosquatted package. Therefore, this is a supply-chain hardening issue rather than evidence of an active malicious dependency. ### Attack Path 1. A user follows the prerequisite documented in `SKILL.md`. 2. The user runs `pip install requests`. 3. `pip` contacts the configured package index and dynamically resolves the current `requests` release and its transitive dependencies. 4. If any resolved distribution or package-index response has been compromised, attacker-controlled content is installed into the user’s Python environment. 5. Malicious package behavior could execute during installation or when the affected package is subsequently imported or invoked. This exploitation path depends on an upstream package, account, reg ...[truncated 779 chars]- Remediation
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Remediation Suggestions
- Remove
pip install requestsfrom the prerequisites because the current script uses only the Python standard library. - If future optional HTTP functionality requires
requests, document the dependency only for that feature. - Pin reviewed dependency and transitive-dependency versions in a lock file or constraints file.
- Require package hashes, such as through
pip install --require-hashes -r requirements.txt, to verify artifact integrity. - Install dependencies from an explicitly trusted package index and review dependency changes before updating locked versions.
- Avoid privileged or system-wide installation; use an isolated virtual environment with the minimum necessary permissions.
- Remove