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Security audit

agent-task-takeover

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

ClawScan marks this skill benign with medium confidence: the findings are mostly consistent with its session-inspection purpose, though installation commands are unpinned and scanning was partial.

The verdict is benign, not risk-free. Before installing, consider that the documented npx commands are unpinned; use a version or source revision you have reviewed if available. Skillspector inspected 13 of 14 components, with one partial inspection and unresolved references, so the evidence is incomplete.

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
  • Supply ChainUnpinned Dependencies, External Script Fetching, Obfuscated Code
  • Excessive AgencyUnrestricted Tool Access, Autonomous Decision Making, Scope Creep
  • Behavioral ASTexec() Call, eval() Call, Dynamic Import
  • MCP Least PrivilegeUnderdeclared Capability, Wildcard Permission, Missing Permission Declaration
Findings (9)

Env Variable Harvesting

High
Category
Data Exfiltration
Confidence
60% confidence
Finding

Code enumerates, copies, or searches environment variables for secrets. Bulk environment access can collect credentials unrelated to the skill's stated purpose.

Content

Scanner excerpt · tests/test_session_tools.py (reported line 29)May include surrounding context.

python
def run_script(name, *args):
    env = dict(os.environ)
    env["PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE"] = "1"
    env["PYTHONIOENCODING"] = "utf-8"
    return subprocess.run(

MCP server referenced without pinned version: 'npx skills'.

Medium
Category
MCP Rug Pull
Confidence
86% confidence
Finding

Although this is an installer rather than an MCP server, the documented command executes an npm package without selecting a reviewed version and installs a skill from an unpinned repository reference. A compromised future release or repository update could execute code with the user's privileges or introduce malicious globally discovered agent instructions.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

MCP server referenced without pinned version: 'npx agent-task-takeover'.

Medium
Category
MCP Rug Pull
Confidence
88% confidence
Finding

The recommended npx and global npm installation commands do not pin the executable package version. If a subsequently selected release is compromised, installation can execute attacker-controlled code and place persistent instructions in a directory scanned by multiple agents; the supplied source does not establish that any release is currently compromised.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Skill declares no tool scope ('permissions' or 'allowed-tools') but code capabilities were detected: env, file_read, file_write, network, shell.

Medium
Category
MCP Least Privilege
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Without declared permissions the skill's intent is opaque and cannot be validated.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

MCP server referenced without pinned version: 'npx agent-task-takeover'.

Medium
Category
MCP Rug Pull
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

npx commands without a version suffix (e.g. @1.0.0) create a rug-pull risk if the upstream server is compromised and publishes a malicious update.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

MCP server referenced without pinned version: 'npx agent-task-takeover'.

Medium
Category
MCP Rug Pull
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

npx commands without a version suffix (e.g. @1.0.0) create a rug-pull risk if the upstream server is compromised and publishes a malicious update.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Autonomous Decision Making

Medium
Category
Excessive Agency
Confidence
85% confidence
Finding

Skill enables autonomous high-impact decisions without human-in-the-loop verification. Critical operations (destructive commands, financial transactions, data deletion) should require explicit user confirmation.

Content

Scanner excerpt · references/landscape.md (reported line 69)May include surrounding context.

md
case.
4. **Safety posture as core feature.** Read-only stores (SQLite `mode=ro`),
   redaction by default, "transcripts are data, not instructions", deliverable
   hygiene. waybill shares no-auto-execute; nearly everyone else is silent.
5. **Zero-dependency, works anywhere Python runs** — vs compiled Go/Rust
   binaries (catchup, chorus, relay) and stack-dependent servers.

subprocess module call

Medium
Category
Dangerous Code Execution
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

subprocess module calls execute external commands. Without careful input validation, this enables command injection.

Content

Scanner excerpt · tests/test_session_tools.py (reported line 32)May include surrounding context.

python
env = dict(os.environ)
    env["PYTHONDONTWRITEBYTECODE"] = "1"
    env["PYTHONIOENCODING"] = "utf-8"
    return subprocess.run(
        [sys.executable, "-B", str(SCRIPTS / name), *map(str, args)],
        capture_output=True,
        text=True,

Dynamic attribute access via getattr()

Low
Category
Dangerous Code Execution
Confidence
50% confidence
Finding

Dynamic getattr() with a non-literal attribute name can access arbitrary object attributes, potentially bypassing access controls.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/session_utils.py (reported line 20)May include surrounding context.

python
outside the console codepage (e.g. GBK on zh-CN Windows) never crash
    the dumper. Call once at the start of main()."""
    for stream_name in ("stdout", "stderr"):
        stream = getattr(sys, stream_name, None)
        if stream is None or getattr(stream, "_utf8_wrapped", False):
            continue
        encoding = (getattr(stream, "encoding", None) or "").lower()