Ae1
High
- Category
- analysis-evasion
- Content
rpolating query text into a shell command string. Shell parsing happens before `search.mjs` receives `argv`.
- Confidence
- 100% confidence
- Finding
- Referenced artifact was not completely inspected
Security audit
tavily-search-native-node
Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk
Overview
This skill is a clearly scoped Tavily web-search helper that sends user-approved search queries to Tavily and does not show hidden persistence, file access, or unrelated behavior.
Install only if you are comfortable sending search queries and domain filters to Tavily using your TAVILY_API_KEY. Do not use it for secrets or confidential text, and ensure your agent invokes the script without shell interpolation so user query text is passed as data.
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
- Prompt InjectionInstruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands
Findings (16)
Ae1
High
- Category
- analysis-evasion
- Content
rpolating query text into a shell command string. Shell parsing happens before `search.mjs` receives `argv`.
- Confidence
- 100% confidence
- Finding
- Referenced artifact was not completely inspected
Ae1
High
- Category
- analysis-evasion
- Content
rpolating query text into a shell command string. Shell parsing happens before `search.mjs` receives `argv`.
- Confidence
- 100% confidence
- Finding
- Referenced artifact was not completely inspected
Ae1
High
- Category
- analysis-evasion
- Content
rpolating query text into a shell command string. Shell parsing happens before `search.mjs` receives `argv`.
- Confidence
- 100% confidence
- Finding
- Referenced artifact was not completely inspected
Ae1
High
- Category
- analysis-evasion
- Content
rpolating query text into a shell command string. Shell parsing happens before `search.mjs` receives `argv`.
- Confidence
- 100% confidence
- Finding
- Referenced artifact was not completely inspected
Ae1
High
- Category
- analysis-evasion
- Content
rpolating query text into a shell command string. Shell parsing happens before `search.mjs` receives `argv`.
- Confidence
- 100% confidence
- Finding
- Referenced artifact was not completely inspected
Ae1
High
- Category
- analysis-evasion
- Content
rpolating query text into a shell command string. Shell parsing happens before `search.mjs` receives `argv`.
- Confidence
- 100% confidence
- Finding
- Referenced artifact was not completely inspected
Ae1
High
- Category
- analysis-evasion
- Content
rpolating query text into a shell command string. Shell parsing happens before `search.mjs` receives `argv`.
- Confidence
- 100% confidence
- Finding
- Referenced artifact was not completely inspected
Ae1
High
- Category
- analysis-evasion
- Content
rpolating query text into a shell command string. Shell parsing happens before `search.mjs` receives `argv`.
- Confidence
- 100% confidence
- Finding
- Referenced artifact was not completely inspected
Credential Access
High
- Category
- Privilege Escalation
- Content
return spawnSync(process.execPath, [script, ...args], { cwd: __dirname, encoding: 'utf8', env: { ...process.env, TAVILY_API_KEY: '', ...env }, timeout: 20000, }); }- 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
return spawnSync(process.execPath, [script, ...args], { cwd: __dirname, encoding: 'utf8', env: { ...process.env, TAVILY_API_KEY: '', ...env }, timeout: 20000, }); }- 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
- 94% confidence
- Finding
- The skill declares sensitive capabilities in prose and metadata (`env`, outbound network) but does not expose an explicit tool-scope/permissions declaration that a host platform can enforce. That creates a policy gap where reviewers and runtime controls may not have a machine-readable boundary for what the skill is allowed to access, increasing the chance of unintended environment-variable access or external data transmission.
Vague Triggers
Medium
- Confidence
- 95% confidence
- Finding
- The trigger phrases and usage guidance include broad terms like "research" and "compare," which can cause the skill to activate in routine conversations where external web transmission was not intended. In this skill's context, unintended invocation matters because it can send user queries to a third-party API, creating privacy, cost, and approval-boundary risks even if the implementation is otherwise careful.
External Transmission
Medium
- Category
- Data Exfiltration
- Content
// Usage: node search.mjs [flags] "query" // Requires Node 18+ (uses native fetch). Reads TAVILY_API_KEY from the process environment only. const ENDPOINT = "https://api.tavily.com/search"; const DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS = 30000; function die(msg, code = 1) {- Confidence
- 50% confidence
- Finding
- Data is being sent to an external URL. This could be legitimate telemetry or data exfiltration. Manual review is recommended.
External Transmission
Medium
- Category
- Data Exfiltration
- Content
// Usage: node search.mjs [flags] "query" // Requires Node 18+ (uses native fetch). Reads TAVILY_API_KEY from the process environment only. const ENDPOINT = "https://api.tavily.com/search"; const DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS = 30000; function die(msg, code = 1) {- Confidence
- 50% confidence
- Finding
- Data is being sent to an external URL. This could be legitimate telemetry or data exfiltration. Manual review is recommended.
External Transmission
Medium
- Category
- Data Exfiltration
- Content
// Usage: node search.mjs [flags] "query" // Requires Node 18+ (uses native fetch). Reads TAVILY_API_KEY from the process environment only. const ENDPOINT = "https://api.tavily.com/search"; const DEFAULT_TIMEOUT_MS = 30000; function die(msg, code = 1) {- Confidence
- 50% confidence
- Finding
- Data is being sent to an external URL. This could be legitimate telemetry or data exfiltration. Manual review is recommended.
Static analysis
Detected: suspicious.dangerous_exec, suspicious.env_credential_access, suspicious.exposed_secret_literal
Shell command execution detected (child_process).
Critical
- Code
- suspicious.dangerous_exec
- Location
- tests.mjs:13
Environment variable access combined with network send.
Critical
- Code
- suspicious.env_credential_access
- Location
- scripts/search.mjs:20
File appears to expose a hardcoded API secret or token.
Critical
- Code
- suspicious.exposed_secret_literal
- Location
- tests.mjs:97