Openclaw Tavily Search 0.1.0

• Outcome: Pass
• Latest audit: Sep 12, 2026 · 1:58 AM UTC
• Version: 1.0.0

Overview

This skill is a straightforward Tavily web-search helper that uses a Tavily API key only to call Tavily's search API.

Install this only if you intend to use Tavily for web search. Running it will send your search query and Tavily API key to Tavily's API; keep the key scoped to Tavily and avoid putting unrelated secrets in ~/.openclaw/.env.

A.I.G

Vulnerability Patterns

• Skill Instruction Hijacking: Alters the agent's session goals or safety constraints when the skill loads
• Agent Memory Poisoning: Writes attacker-controlled rules into memory that affect later sessions
• Remote Payload Retrieval and Execution: Fetches external code whose behavior can change after review
• Embedded Malicious Code: Ships malicious scripts inside the skill and executes them locally
• Unauthorized Access and Privilege Escalation: Obtains permissions beyond the task's legitimate needs

SkillSpector

Vulnerability Patterns

• Data Exfiltration: External Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
• Privilege Escalation: Excessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
• Taint Tracking: Direct Taint Flow, Variable-Mediated Taint Flow, Credential Exfiltration Chain
• MCP Least Privilege: Underdeclared Capability, Wildcard Permission, Missing Permission Declaration
• Prompt Injection: Instruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands

Findings (6)

Tainted flow: 'req' from os.environ.get (line 51, credential/environment) → urllib.request.urlopen (network output)

Critical

• Category: Data Flow

Content

method="POST",
    )

    with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=30) as resp:
        body = resp.read().decode("utf-8", errors="replace")

    try:

• Confidence: 90% confidence
• Finding: Credentials or environment variables flow to a network sink. This is a high-confidence indicator of credential exfiltration.

Credential Access

High

• Category: Privilege Escalation

Content

if key:
        return key.strip()

    env_path = pathlib.Path.home() / ".openclaw" / ".env"
    if env_path.exists():
        try:
            txt = env_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="ignore")

• Confidence: 60% confidence
• Finding: Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Credential Access

High

• Category: Privilege Escalation

Content

if key:
        return key.strip()

    env_path = pathlib.Path.home() / ".openclaw" / ".env"
    if env_path.exists():
        try:
            txt = env_path.read_text(encoding="utf-8", errors="ignore")

• Confidence: 60% confidence
• Finding: Code accesses credential files (SSH keys, AWS credentials, etc.). This could indicate credential theft attempts.

Lp3

Medium

• Category: MCP Least Privilege
• Confidence: 95% confidence
• Finding: The skill invokes a Python script that uses environment secrets, reads a local .env file path, and performs outbound network requests, but the manifest does not declare any tool scope or permissions. This creates a transparency and governance gap: an agent or reviewer cannot easily understand that the skill can access API keys and make external requests, increasing the risk of unintended secret use or data egress.

External Transmission

Medium

• Category: Data Exfiltration

Content

import sys
import urllib.request

TAVILY_URL = "https://api.tavily.com/search"


def load_key():

• Confidence: 60% confidence
• Finding: Data is being sent to an external URL. This could be legitimate telemetry or data exfiltration. Manual review is recommended.

Missing User Warnings

Medium

• Confidence: 89% confidence
• Finding: This code reads a credential from the TAVILY_API_KEY environment variable or ~/.openclaw/.env and then includes it in an outbound HTTP request payload. There is no confirmation prompt, logging, comment warning, or other user-facing disclosure that the skill accesses local credentials and sends them to a remote service.

Static analysis

No suspicious patterns detected.