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Security audit

Agent Shark Mindset

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

The skill is coherent with its stated purpose, but it should be reviewed because it autonomously posts financial signals and promotional content to Telegram on a schedule without a clear approval or dry-run boundary.

Install only if you intentionally want an autonomous agent to publish market signals, VIP upsells, and owner reports through your Telegram bot. Verify channel IDs, bot permissions, and compliance requirements first, and keep cron posting disabled or in a manual-review flow until you have checked the exact messages it will send.

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
Findings (1)

T01 · Skill Instruction Hijacking

Error
Location
SKILL.md:192
Finding

Mandatory Promotional Output Injection Through Persistent Skill Instructions

Content
View full analysis
You are an autonomous agent operating in SHARK MODE. Your only goal right now is to find asymmetric market opportunities and publish them with convict ...[truncated 2901 chars]
Remediation
View remediation
Vulnerability Patterns
  • Prompt InjectionInstruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands
  • Data ExfiltrationExternal Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
  • Privilege EscalationExcessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
  • Excessive AgencyUnrestricted Tool Access, Autonomous Decision Making, Scope Creep
  • Supply ChainUnpinned Dependencies, External Script Fetching, Obfuscated Code
Findings (13)

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
60% confidence
Finding

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

Content

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 443)May include surrounding context.

md
[ ] tracker_state.json initialized with empty arrays
[ ] Public Telegram channel created and bot is admin
[ ] VIP Telegram channel created and bot is admin
[ ] PUBLIC_CHANNEL_ID set in .env
[ ] VIP_CHANNEL_ID set in .env
[ ] OWNER_CHAT_ID set in .env (for weekly reports)
[ ] Landing page URL defined (even a simple page works)

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
60% confidence
Finding

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

Content

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 444)May include surrounding context.

md
[ ] tracker_state.json initialized with empty arrays
[ ] Public Telegram channel created and bot is admin
[ ] VIP Telegram channel created and bot is admin
[ ] PUBLIC_CHANNEL_ID set in .env
[ ] VIP_CHANNEL_ID set in .env
[ ] OWNER_CHAT_ID set in .env (for weekly reports)
[ ] Landing page URL defined (even a simple page works)

Credential Access

High
Category
Privilege Escalation
Confidence
60% confidence
Finding

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

Content

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 445)May include surrounding context.

md
[ ] tracker_state.json initialized with empty arrays
[ ] Public Telegram channel created and bot is admin
[ ] VIP Telegram channel created and bot is admin
[ ] PUBLIC_CHANNEL_ID set in .env
[ ] VIP_CHANNEL_ID set in .env
[ ] OWNER_CHAT_ID set in .env (for weekly reports)
[ ] Landing page URL defined (even a simple page works)

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
96% confidence
Finding

The README describes automated publishing of content and trading signals to public and VIP Telegram channels without a clear operator-facing warning about outbound posting. This creates risk of unintended disclosure, spam, reputational harm, regulatory exposure, or accidental publication of low-quality or sensitive content, especially because the skill is marketed as autonomous and scheduled. In this financial-signals context, automated public messaging is more dangerous because posts may be interpreted as investment guidance and can trigger real-world consequences immediately.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
93% confidence
Finding

The README states that the skill will auto-create required files on first run, but it does not clearly warn users that the workspace will be modified. Silent file creation can surprise operators, overwrite expected layouts, or create artifacts that later influence agent behavior and downstream automation. In an autonomous-agent context, undisclosed write behavior is a meaningful safety concern even if it is framed as setup convenience.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
93% confidence
Finding

The metadata declares outbound network access to Telegram and public APIs and requires a Telegram bot token, but it does not include a clear privacy or data-transmission warning describing what information may be sent externally. This is risky because an autonomous agent may transmit generated content, channel identifiers, market summaries, or operational metadata to third-party services without the user's fully informed consent.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
95% confidence
Finding

The skill explicitly instructs the agent to create directories and files and to perform recurring writes across multiple workspace locations, but it does not present a clear user-facing warning or consent boundary before modifying local data. This is dangerous because autonomous file creation and continuous state logging can alter, overwrite, or clutter workspace data in ways the operator may not expect, especially when scheduled cron-like execution is implied.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Skill Enumeration

Medium
Category
Agent Snooping
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Skill enumerates or reads other installed skills. Access to other skills' SKILL.md files or the skills directory reveals prompt instructions, capabilities, and secrets that should be invisible to peer skills.

Content

Scanner excerpt · cron-messages.md (reported line 25)May include surrounding context.

md
</system_instructions>

<skill_reference>
Read and follow: /workspace/skills/agent-shark-mindset/SKILL.md
Execute: MODE 1 — DAILY ALPHA SCAN
</skill_reference>

Skill Enumeration

Medium
Category
Agent Snooping
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Skill enumerates or reads other installed skills. Access to other skills' SKILL.md files or the skills directory reveals prompt instructions, capabilities, and secrets that should be invisible to peer skills.

Content

Scanner excerpt · cron-messages.md (reported line 77)May include surrounding context.

md
</system_instructions>

<skill_reference>
Read and follow: /workspace/skills/agent-shark-mindset/SKILL.md
Execute: MODE 1 — DAILY ALPHA SCAN
</skill_reference>

Skill Enumeration

Medium
Category
Agent Snooping
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Skill enumerates or reads other installed skills. Access to other skills' SKILL.md files or the skills directory reveals prompt instructions, capabilities, and secrets that should be invisible to peer skills.

Content

Scanner excerpt · cron-messages.md (reported line 124)May include surrounding context.

md
</system_instructions>

<skill_reference>
Read and follow: /workspace/skills/agent-shark-mindset/SKILL.md
Execute: MODE 1 — DAILY ALPHA SCAN
</skill_reference>

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
95% confidence
Finding

The cron message explicitly authorizes autonomous publication to public/VIP Telegram channels and local writes without any user-facing disclosure, approval gate, or safety interlock. In this skill context, those side effects are central to operation and can cause unauthorized financial promotions, data leakage, or persistent state changes if the agent is misconfigured, compromised, or produces incorrect output.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Natural-Language Policy Violations

Low
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
78% confidence
Finding

The README states 'Shark tone enforced,' which imposes a fixed communication style on generated content. This is a natural-language policy concern because it removes user choice over output style without indicating any opt-in or override.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Low
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
86% confidence
Finding

The skill config instructs the agent to send automated owner notifications over Telegram but does not warn about privacy, authenticity, or integrity risks of sending operational summaries through a third-party messaging channel. These messages may expose trading activity, revenue data, or workflow state, and could be misdelivered if the chat ID is wrong or if Telegram access is compromised.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Static analysis

No suspicious patterns detected.