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Security audit

News Source Manager (信息源管理器)

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

This skill transparently manages local news preference settings and does not show deceptive, destructive, or unrelated behavior.

Before installing, be aware that your selected news topics and preferred sources will be saved locally in ~/.openclaw/workspace/memory/news-sources.json and may reveal interests such as finance, health, policy, or work focus on shared or synced machines. Review or delete that file if you no longer want the preferences retained.

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
  • Trigger AbuseOverly Broad Trigger, Shadow Command Trigger, Keyword Baiting Trigger
  • YARA SignaturesMalware Match, Webshell Match, Cryptominer Match
  • Prompt InjectionInstruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands
  • Data ExfiltrationExternal Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
  • Privilege EscalationExcessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
Findings (9)

Natural-Language Policy Violations

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
90% confidence
Finding

The documented first-use interaction is entirely in Chinese and is presented as what the user will be asked when the skill runs. Because the README does not say the user can choose another language, this creates a natural-language policy concern around forcing a specific language without user opt-in.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
86% confidence
Finding

The README explicitly states that user news preferences are stored on disk in a predictable path, but it does not warn users about persistence, local exposure, or privacy implications. Preference data can reveal interests, profession, investment focus, or health/policy concerns, and undocumented retention increases the risk of unintentional disclosure on shared or synced systems.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
92% confidence
Finding

The invocation description allows activation for a broad, common user intent ('wants to customize news categories') rather than requiring a clear command scoped to this skill. That can cause the skill to trigger in unrelated conversations and perform reads or writes to the user's persistent configuration without sufficiently explicit intent.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Natural-Language Policy Violations

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
81% confidence
Finding

The skill title and purpose force bilingual or Chinese-language presentation by default, and the operational examples throughout the file continue this mixed-language pattern without stating that the user can choose their preferred language. This can violate a language/locale policy where user-facing language should be selected by user preference or explicit opt-in.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
88% confidence
Finding

The modify-sources trigger uses ordinary conversational phrasing like complaints about source quality, which may be mentioned hypothetically or as discussion rather than a direct command. This increases the risk of unintended configuration changes to a persistent file if the agent interprets ambient language as authorization to update settings.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

YARA rule 'network_reconnaissance': Network reconnaissance and scanning patterns [hacktools]

Medium
Category
YARA Match
Confidence
65% confidence
Finding

YARA rule matched a hack tool or exploit indicator (offensive tools, reconnaissance, privilege escalation, or exploit frameworks).

Content

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 177)May include surrounding context.

md
uctor, robotics, AI safety | TechCrunch, MIT Tech Review, The Verge |
| **Business Strategy** | M&A, disruption, SaaS, digital transformation, startup | McKinsey, HBR, WSJ, Bloomberg |
| **Finance/Crypto** | VC, IPO, bitcoin, DeFi, macroeconomics, fintech | Bloomberg, CoinDesk, FT, Reuters |
| **Health/Bio** | biotech, clinical trials, CRISPR, digital health, medical AI | STAT News, Nature, NEJM, Fierce Biotech |
| **Energy/Climate** | renewable, battery, EV, carbon capture, hydrogen, nuclear | Canary Media, CleanTechnica, Carbon Brief |
| **Policy/Regulation** | AI regulation, antitrust, GDPR, AI Act, cybersecurity | Politico, Bloomberg Gov, Lawfare |
| **Product Design** | UX, UI, design system, accessibility, Figma, user research | Nielsen Norman, Smashing Magazine |

**keywords 角色**: insight-radar 搜索后用 keywords 评估覆盖度,发现盲区自动补搜。不再作为搜索词。

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
90% confidence
Finding

The Finance/Crypto keyword list includes many generic terms such as "finance," "investment," "trading," "currency," "inflation," "law," and similar broad concepts that can appear in ordinary conversation. In a skill-selection or routing context, this can cause unintended activation, misclassification of user intent, and downstream handling of queries under the wrong policy or data path.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

YARA rule 'network_reconnaissance': Network reconnaissance and scanning patterns [hacktools]

Medium
Category
YARA Match
Confidence
65% confidence
Finding

YARA rule matched a hack tool or exploit indicator (offensive tools, reconnaissance, privilege escalation, or exploit frameworks).

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/keyword-templates.json (reported line 450)May include surrounding context.

json
"name": "Cell",
        "url": "cell.com",
        "priority": 2
      },
      {
        "name": "The Lancet",
        "url": "thelancet.com",
        "priority": 1
      },
      {
        "name": "NEJM",
        "url": "nejm.org",
        "priority": 1
      },
      {
        "name": "MedTech Dive",
        "url": "medtechdive.com",
        "priority": 2
      },
      {
        "name": "Fierce Biotech",
        "url": "fiercebiotech.com",
        "priority": 2
      },
      {
        "name": "Endpoints News",
        "url": "endpts.com",
        "priority": 2
      },
      {
        "name": "BioPharma Dive",
        "url": "biopharmadive.com",
        "priority": 2
      }
    ]
  },
  "Energy/Climate": {
    "keywords": [
      "renewable energy",
      "clean energy",
      "green energy",
      "solar energy",
      "solar panel",
      "photovoltaic",
      "PV",
      "wind energy",
      "wind turbine",
      "offshore wind",
      "onshore wind",
      "nuclear energ

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
94% confidence
Finding

The Policy/Regulation template contains broad triggers like "bill," "law," "Congress," "Senate," "House," and "surveillance," which can match many non-policy conversations. Because this skill manages news preferences and may be invoked by keyword-based intent detection, these unspecific terms increase the risk of accidental activation and incorrect preference or source management actions.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.