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Security audit

housing-market-research

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

This skill is a disclosed housing-market research helper that calls a specific external API and does not show hidden persistence, destructive behavior, or credential theft.

Install only if you are comfortable sending housing-market search locations and filters to Crawlora using your Crawlora API key. Keep the API key in the environment, do not paste it into chats or reports, and avoid including sensitive personal financial details unless explicitly needed.

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
  • Data ExfiltrationExternal Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
  • Privilege EscalationExcessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
  • Trigger AbuseOverly Broad Trigger, Shadow Command Trigger, Keyword Baiting Trigger
  • MCP Least PrivilegeUnderdeclared Capability, Wildcard Permission, Missing Permission Declaration
  • MCP Tool PoisoningHidden Instructions, Unicode Deception, Parameter Description Injection
Findings (9)

Undeclared Tool Scope

Medium
Category
MCP Least Privilege
Confidence
91% confidence
Finding

The skill instructs use of a bundled shell script but does not declare any tool scope or allowed-tools boundaries. That creates an avoidable trust gap: an agent may invoke shell capabilities more broadly than intended, and reviewers cannot easily verify the minimum required execution surface.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

External Transmission

Medium
Category
Data Exfiltration
Confidence
86% confidence
Finding

This file documents transmission to an external domain, which is expected for a data-retrieval skill, but it becomes a real security concern because no safeguards or data-sharing constraints are described. In a skill that may process user-supplied locations or related context, silent third-party transmission increases privacy and compliance risk even if the destination is legitimate.

Content

Scanner excerpt · reference/endpoints.md (reported line 7)May include surrounding context.

md
Only the endpoints used by this workflow. Call them via `scripts/crawlora.sh` (see SKILL.md).

All paths are relative to the API base `https://api.crawlora.net/api/v1` and require the header `x-api-key: $CRAWLORA_API_KEY`. Path params like `{id}` are substituted into the URL; `GET` params go in the query string; `POST` params go in a JSON body.

**5 endpoints across 2 platform group(s).**

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
90% confidence
Finding

The file instructs use of an external API with an API key but provides no warning about credential sensitivity, external transmission, or user-consent boundaries. In an agentic context, this can lead to unintended sending of user-provided data to a third party or mishandling of secrets, especially if operators assume endpoint documentation is inherently safe.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Description-Behavior Mismatch

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
92% confidence
Finding

The manifest describes a skill for comparing housing markets using historical dataset metrics such as prices, inventory, sales activity, time on market, and affordability trends. The documented redfin_search endpoint instead exposes public property listing search functionality, which is oriented toward browsing listings rather than comparing market-level housing statistics.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

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 · SKILL.md (reported line 15)May include surrounding context.

md
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Crawlora REST helper — minimal, dependency-free (curl only).
# Calls https://api.crawlora.net/api/v1 with your Crawlora API key.
# Get a free key (2,000 credits/mo, no card) at https://crawlora.net?utm_source=github&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=crawlora-skills.
#
# Usage:

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/crawlora.sh (reported line 3)May include surrounding context.

sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Crawlora REST helper — minimal, dependency-free (curl only).
# Calls https://api.crawlora.net/api/v1 with your Crawlora API key.
# Get a free key (2,000 credits/mo, no card) at https://crawlora.net?utm_source=github&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=crawlora-skills.
#
# Usage:

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/crawlora.sh (reported line 20)May include surrounding context.

sh
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Crawlora REST helper — minimal, dependency-free (curl only).
# Calls https://api.crawlora.net/api/v1 with your Crawlora API key.
# Get a free key (2,000 credits/mo, no card) at https://crawlora.net?utm_source=github&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=crawlora-skills.
#
# Usage:

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/crawlora.sh (reported line 86)May include surrounding context.

sh
# config supplies the header and is removed automatically on exit.
umask 077
curl_config="$(mktemp "${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/crawlora-curl.XXXXXX")"
chmod 600 "$curl_config"
trap 'rm -f "$curl_config"' EXIT
printf 'header = "x-api-key: %s"\n' "$CRAWLORA_API_KEY" >"$curl_config"
auth=(--config "$curl_config")

Vague Triggers

Low
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
76% confidence
Finding

The file says these are the endpoints used by 'this workflow' and to call them via a script, but it does not define the workflow scope, activation conditions, or any exclusions. In a markdown reference file, this kind of underspecified usage guidance can make it unclear when the skill should be invoked versus when it should not.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.