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Security audit

Clawdit

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

Clawdit is a coherent agent-configuration auditor, but it requests broad access to private agent context and can persist changes or reports without sufficiently specific user control.

Review this before installing. Use it only on workspaces you are comfortable exposing to an audit report, require exact file paths before reads or writes, do not allow USER.md updates without reviewing the precise patch, and avoid saving reports that contain secrets or private profile details unless they are redacted.

Vulnerability Patterns
  • Agent Memory PoisoningWrites attacker-controlled rules into memory that affect later sessions
  • Unauthorized Access and Privilege EscalationObtains permissions beyond the task's legitimate needs
  • Skill Instruction HijackingAlters the agent's session goals or safety constraints when the skill loads
  • 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
Findings (2)

T05 · Unauthorized Access and Privilege Escalation

Warning
Location
SKILL.md:69
Finding

Overbroad Collection and Persistent Replication of Agent Context

Content
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/ ls -la /skills/ ``` 2. Read each core context file in full: - `/SOUL.md` - `/AGENTS.md` - `/USER.md` (if it exists) - Any other `.md` files in the workspace root that appear to be loaded into context 3. Read each active skill's SKILL.md: ```bash find /skills -name "SKILL.md" -type f ``` ``` ```markdown - Include standing orders, cron job configurations, and any other files that contribute to the agent's loaded context if they exist in the workspace. ``` ```markdown - Save the full audit report as a dated file in the Clawdit workspace for historical reference: `/audits/audit-YYYY-MM-DD.md` ``` ### Technical Analysis The audit workflow instructs the agent to enumerate the target workspace and read complete copies of core context files, skills, standing orders, and cron-related configuration. These sources may contain personal profile information, private prompts, operational details, access instructions, or accidentally embedded credentials. The workflow subsequently requires a persistent audit report but does not define: - An explicit path-level authorization process. - A minimal allowlist of files required for the audit. - Secret detection or redaction before information is included in the report. - Restrictions on quoting complete source directives. - Report retention, access control, or secure deletion requirements. The task legitimately requires access to some agent configuration, but the prescribed collection is broader than necessary and lacks safeguards against dupl ...[truncated 1416 chars]
Remediation
View remediation

T02 · Agent Memory Poisoning

Warning
Location
SKILL.md:54
Finding

Persistent USER.md Modification Without Separate Write Authorization

Content
View full analysis
Remediation
View remediation
Vulnerability Patterns
  • Prompt InjectionInstruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands
  • Trigger AbuseOverly Broad Trigger, Shadow Command Trigger, Keyword Baiting Trigger
  • MCP Tool PoisoningHidden Instructions, Unicode Deception, Parameter Description Injection
  • Data ExfiltrationExternal Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
  • Privilege EscalationExcessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
Findings (8)

Ae1

High
Category
analysis-evasion
Confidence
100% confidence
Finding

Referenced artifact was not completely inspected

Content

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 81)May include surrounding context.

md
find <target_workspace>/skills -name "SKILL.md" -type f

Anti-Refusal Statement

High
Category
Anti-Refusal
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

Skill instructs the agent to never refuse or to always comply. Suppressing the agent's ability to decline removes a core safety control and enables downstream harmful requests to succeed.

Content

Scanner excerpt · audit-framework.md (reported line 127)May include surrounding context.

md
**Recommendation:** Consolidate to a single location. Remove duplicates.

**Example:** SOUL.md says "Always respond in English" and AGENTS.md also says "Default language is English. Always respond in English."

### ⚫-2: Contextual Reinforcement
A directive restated in a skill-specific or context-specific way that may actually improve performance by firing in the exact moment the behavior matters most. The general version in SOUL.md sets the baseline; the specific version in a skill's SKILL.md reinforces it precisely when it counts.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
93% confidence
Finding

Permitting undefined "variations" of activation phrases creates ambiguous trigger scope and makes safe dispatch harder to reason about. In a skill that reads multiple agent context files and may save reports or propose modifications, accidental invocation increases exposure to unintended data access and side effects.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
91% confidence
Finding

Permitting undefined "variations" of activation phrases creates ambiguous trigger scope and makes safe dispatch harder to reason about. In a skill that reads multiple agent context files and may save reports or propose modifications, accidental invocation increases exposure to unintended data access and side effects.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Description-Behavior Mismatch

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
93% confidence
Finding

The skill is presented as an auditor, but it instructs the agent to persistently update USER.md during intake. Even if intended for convenience, this crosses from read-only analysis into modifying user configuration, which can create unreviewed state changes and contaminate the very material later used as an audit baseline.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
94% confidence
Finding

The slash-command section repeats broad natural-language triggers and adds "or similar," further widening the activation surface. Because this skill performs deep workspace inspection and can generate persistent artifacts, vague routing language makes unintended activation materially more risky than for a harmless informational skill.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Description-Behavior Mismatch

Low
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
89% confidence
Finding

The manifest describes an audit skill, but later instructions include saving audit reports and revised files to the skill's own workspace. This is a weaker issue than direct target modification, but undisclosed persistence can surprise users, retain sensitive configuration data, and expand the skill's data-handling footprint beyond what the manifest implies.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Natural-Language Policy Violations

Low
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
89% confidence
Finding

The document includes a natural-language example stating "Always respond in English," which is a language constraint presented without any user choice or opt-in. Even though it appears as an example, it still embeds policy-violating language in the skill file.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Static analysis

No suspicious patterns detected.