T09 · Insecure Skill Coding Practices
- Location
trader.py:278- Finding
Market safety checks fail open when context retrieval fails
- Content
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Vulnerability Details
File Location:
trader.py, lines 278-294; unsafe results are consumed at lines 405-406 and 545-546
Vulnerability Type: Fail-open risk validation
Risk Level: Highpython def get_market_context(market_id: str, my_probability: float = None) -> dict: """Get market context with safeguards and edge analysis.""" try: if my_probability is not None: return get_client()._request( "GET", f"/api/sdk/context/{market_id}", params={"my_probability": my_probability} ) return get_client().get_market_context(market_id) except Exception: return None def check_safeguards(context: dict) -> tuple[bool, list[str]]: """Check context for safeguards. Returns (should_trade, reasons).""" if not context: return True, []The unsafe result is used before both exit and entry orders:
python ctx = get_market_context(market_id) ok, reasons = check_safeguards(ctx)python ctx = get_market_context( market_id, my_probability=model_p if side == "yes" else 1 - model_p ) ok, reasons = check_safeguards(ctx)Technical Analysis
get_market_context()catches every exception without recording its cause and returnsNone.check_safeguards()then treats a missing or empty context as authorization to trade by returning(True, []).Consequently, failures involving authentication, network connectivity, rate limits, malformed responses, service outages, or unexpected SDK behavior bypass all context-dependent controls. These controls include:
- Resolved-market detection
- Discipline and flip-flop warnings
- Minimum time-to-resolution enforcement
- Minimum liquidity enforcement
- Maximum slippage enforcement
A safety mechanism controlling financial transactions should fail closed. The current implementation instead interprets an inability to v ...[truncated 1367 chars]
- Remediation
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Remediation Suggestions
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Fail closed whenever context retrieval fails:
python def get_market_context(market_id: str, my_probability: float = None) -> dict: try: if my_probability is not None: return get_client()._request( "GET", f"/api/sdk/context/{market_id}", params={"my_probability": my_probability}, ) return get_client().get_market_context(market_id) except Exception as exc: safe_print(f"Context retrieval failed for {market_id}: {exc}") return None def check_safeguards(context: dict) -> tuple[bool, list[str]]: if not context: return False, ["Market context unavailable; refusing to trade"] -
Require successfully validated context before every live buy or sell order.
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Distinguish retryable failures, such as timeouts and rate limits, from permanent failures. Apply bounded retries with exponential backoff, but never trade after retries are exhausted.
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Validate the context response schema before reading safety fields. Missing required fields should block live execution.
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Preserve and report exception details without exposing credentials.
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Add tests confirming that timeouts, HTTP errors, malformed responses, empty dictionaries, and SDK exceptions all prevent live order submission.
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