T06 · System Persistence
- Location
SKILL.md:76- Finding
Persistent LLM-Enabled Scheduled Tasks Without Explicit Consent or Lifecycle Controls
- Content
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Vulnerability Details
File Location:
SKILL.md, lines 76–81
Vulnerability Type: Persistent scheduled task registration
Risk Level: MediumVulnerable Code
markdown ## Cron - Monday 9 AM ET: `0 13 * * 1` (leverage audit) - Friday 9 AM ET: `0 13 * * 5` (retro) Use OpenClaw cron (needs LLM access), not crontab.Technical Analysis
The Skill instructs the agent to use OpenClaw cron to establish two recurring tasks with LLM access. These tasks can survive the initiating Skill run and continue executing every Monday and Friday.
Scheduling is relevant to the named leverage-audit and retrospective use cases, but it is not required for the Skill's core function of conducting an on-demand, multi-perspective debate. The instructions do not require explicit user confirmation before registration and do not define task identifiers, authorization boundaries, expiration conditions, duplicate-registration protection, cost limits, or removal procedures.
This creates a persistence risk: an agent interpreting the instruction imperatively may register recurring jobs that continue consuming resources and processing workspace data after the original interaction ends.
Attack Path
- A user or agent loads the Skill to conduct a forum, leverage audit, or weekly retrospective.
- The agent follows the
Cronsection as an operational instruction. - It registers Monday and Friday OpenClaw cron tasks with LLM access.
- The tasks survive the original invocation and execute in future weeks.
- Each execution may collect current operational data, invoke the configured hosted model, and incur additional processing or token costs.
- Without documented removal or expiration controls, execution continues until the user discovers and manually disables the tasks.
Impact Assessment
The behavior can obtain recurring access to whatever data and tools are available to the scheduled OpenClaw execution context. Potential effects include:
- Persistent, ...[truncated 493 chars]
- Remediation
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Remediation Suggestions
- Make on-demand execution the default and describe cron scheduling as an optional feature.
- Require explicit, informed user confirmation immediately before creating each recurring task.
- Show the exact schedule, model, data categories, estimated cost, execution permissions, and retention behavior before confirmation.
- Assign stable task identifiers and check for an existing task before registration to prevent duplicates.
- Apply an expiration date or bounded execution count unless the user explicitly requests indefinite operation.
- Run scheduled tasks with the minimum available tool and data permissions.
- Provide commands or documented steps to list, pause, and remove every task created by the Skill.
- Notify the user after registration and after any material scheduling or permission change.
- Consider separating scheduling into a distinct setup workflow so invoking the forum itself cannot silently create persistence.
