Back to skill

Security audit

Work Productivity Tavily Web Workflow Helper

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

This is a low-risk workflow helper with overly broad activation wording but no executable code, persistence, credential access, or destructive behavior.

This skill appears safe to install as a lightweight workflow helper. Review its broad trigger terms and implicit invocation setting if you want to avoid it being selected for unrelated web, API, or general productivity requests.

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
  • Prompt InjectionInstruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands
  • Data ExfiltrationExternal Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
  • Privilege EscalationExcessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
  • Supply ChainUnpinned Dependencies, External Script Fetching, Obfuscated Code
Findings (11)

Vague Triggers

High
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
96% confidence
Finding

The skill description contains very broad invocation terms such as 'web', 'search', 'via', and generic requests for 'practical workflow, artifact, checklist, analysis, or implementation support'. This can cause the skill to activate for many unrelated user requests, leading to scope hijacking, incorrect tool selection, or accidental routing into a workflow the user did not intend.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

High
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
98% confidence
Finding

The trigger keyword list includes highly ambiguous terms like 'web', 'search', 'via', 'api', 'user', and 'alternative', which are common in ordinary conversation. In an agent ecosystem, this makes unintended invocation likely, increasing the chance of prompt-routing mistakes, irrelevant skill takeover, and downstream unsafe behavior if the wrong workflow is applied to sensitive tasks.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

High
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
95% confidence
Finding

The skill description states activation for broad categories such as work-productivity, tavily, web, search, and via, or for any request needing a workflow, checklist, analysis, or implementation support for the requirement. This is overly inclusive and can cause accidental routing of many normal productivity or web-search requests to this skill, creating prompt-scope confusion and unreliable behavior.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

High
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
98% confidence
Finding

The trigger keywords are extremely broad and include common terms like "web", "search", "api", and "user", which can cause the skill to activate in many unrelated conversations. Over-broad activation increases the chance that the skill injects irrelevant workflow guidance into contexts where it was not intended, reducing reliability and potentially interfering with safer or more appropriate skills.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

High
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
98% confidence
Finding

The trigger sentences are so broad and generic that they can match ordinary user requests unrelated to this specific Tavily-style workflow skill. That creates scope hijacking risk: the wrong skill may activate, causing unintended handling of user data, confusing behavior, or bypass of more appropriate, narrowly scoped skills.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
95% confidence
Finding

The trigger phrases are broad, natural-language prompts that can match ordinary user requests unrelated to this skill’s intended scope. In an agent environment, this can cause unintended invocation, misrouting, or overshadowing of more appropriate skills, which increases the chance of unsafe or incorrect actions being taken under the wrong workflow.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
94% confidence
Finding

The invocation guidance does not define clear boundaries for when the skill should or should not be used, and it mixes broad keywords like 'api', 'alternative', 'user', and 'bug fix' with generic trigger sentences. This makes accidental or excessive invocation more likely, which is especially risky for a skill tied to web/search workflows because it may prompt unnecessary external-query behavior or produce domain-mismatched assistance.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
95% confidence
Finding

The trigger phrases are broad enough to match common, everyday requests such as asking for a practical workflow or help with bug fixing, which can cause the skill to activate outside its intended Tavily/web-workflow scope. In an agent ecosystem, overbroad activation can route unrelated user tasks into this skill, increasing the chance of inappropriate tool use, misleading outputs, or bypass of more suitable safeguards in specialized skills.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
91% confidence
Finding

The example trigger sentences use broad phrasing like 'Help me' and 'I need a practical workflow' without clearly delimiting when the skill should or should not activate. These examples reinforce overbroad matching behavior and make accidental invocation more likely, though they are somewhat less dangerous than the keyword list itself because they are illustrative rather than direct matching logic.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Natural-Language Policy Violations

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
83% confidence
Finding

该文件整体为 zh-CN 中文版本,但文档中未说明这是可选本地化输出,也未向用户提供语言选择。按照语言/地区策略,若技能默认强制特定语言而无用户选择,可能构成自然语言策略违规。

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
96% confidence
Finding

The default prompt uses broad, natural-language trigger terms tied to common tasks ('work-productivity', 'web', 'search', 'workflow'), which increases the chance of unintended or overly frequent invocation. Because implicit invocation is enabled, this can cause the skill to activate outside narrowly intended contexts, injecting its behavior or instructions into unrelated user workflows.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.