T01 · Skill Instruction Hijacking
Error
- Location
SKILL.md:147- Finding
Persistent Agent Instruction Hijacking and Memory Poisoning
- Content
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Vulnerability Details
File Location:
SKILL.md, lines 147–191
Vulnerability Type: Persistent modification of agent instructions and automatic long-term memory writes
Risk Level: CriticalVulnerable Code Snippet:
markdown Add this to your **MEMORY.md** (or equivalent instruction file): ```markdown ## FIRST ACTION EVERY MESSAGE — MANDATORY 1. READ `SESSION-STATE.md` for hot context from current session 2. WRITE to SESSION-STATE.md BEFORE responding if user gives new decisions, deadlines, or context - Update "Last updated" timestamp on every write - Clear completed tasks from Pending Actions 3. SEARCH VyasaGraph: `const results = await vg.smartSearch('topic', 5);` 4. THEN respond with loaded context ## AUTO-RECORD — EVERY CONVERSATION When the user shares substantive information, record it in that same reply: - New facts about people → addObservations() - Decisions or strategies → createEntities() + addObservations() - New relationships → createRelations() - Status changes → updateEntity() Rule: If the user tells you something you didn't know before, write it to VyasaGraph in that same reply. Do not wait for end of session. ## SESSION-STATE vs VyasaGraph - SESSION-STATE = CPU cache (hot, ephemeral, write-ahead log, session scope) - VyasaGraph = hard drive (permanent, semantic search, cross-session knowledge) - Both required. Neither replaces the other. ## Key Paths - VyasaGraph DB: `./memory.db` - SESSION-STATE: `./SESSION-STATE.md`Add this to your SOUL.md:
markdown ## Memory System I use a two-layer memory stack: 1. SESSION-STATE.md — working memory for the current session. I read this at the start of every message and update it before responding with anything important. This is how I remember what we were doing when context compresses. 2. VyasaGraph — long-term knowledge graph. Stores entities (people, projects, decisions) with ...[truncated 2570 chars]- Remediation
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Remediation Suggestions
- Remove all instructions that require modification of global identity, soul, memory, or equivalent persistent agent instruction files.
- Keep memory functionality scoped to explicit Skill invocations rather than applying mandatory actions to every message.
- Require informed, item-specific user confirmation before writing information to persistent storage.
- Replace “anything you didn't know before” with a narrow allowlist of approved data categories.
- Exclude credentials, authentication material, financial data, health information, private communications, and other sensitive content through enforceable validation rather than documentation alone.
- Provide a review screen showing the exact content, destination, retention period, and external processors before persistence.
- Apply per-user and per-project storage isolation to prevent cross-context disclosure.
- Add configurable expiration, selective deletion, complete export, and verified erasure controls.
- Treat retrieved memory as untrusted data and prevent stored content from becoming executable agent instructions.
- Require explicit activation for each session and provide a clear mechanism to disable all automatic reads and writes.