T09 · Insecure Skill Coding Practices
Warning
- Location
SKILL.md:18- Finding
Brave API Key Exposed Through Command-Line Arguments
- Content
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- Remediation
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Security audit
Brave Search Setup
Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk
Overview
This appears to be a legitimate Brave Search setup guide, but it asks users to handle API keys and make persistent proxy/system changes without enough guardrails.
Review the commands before installing or using this skill. Prefer secret-entry methods that do not put API keys in shell history, use temporary/session-scoped proxy settings first, and avoid the sudo proxychains configuration unless you understand the system-wide file change and have a rollback plan.
Vulnerability Patterns
- Insecure Skill Coding PracticesFinds exploitable flaws such as hardcoded secrets or command injection
- 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
Findings (2)
T09 · Insecure Skill Coding Practices
Warning
- Location
SKILL.md:122- Finding
Brave API Key Exposed in Direct curl Test Command
- Content
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- Remediation
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Vulnerability Patterns
- Data ExfiltrationExternal Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
- Privilege EscalationExcessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
- Prompt InjectionInstruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands
- Supply ChainUnpinned Dependencies, External Script Fetching, Obfuscated Code
- Excessive AgencyUnrestricted Tool Access, Autonomous Decision Making, Scope Creep
Findings (4)
External Transmission
Medium
- Category
- Data Exfiltration
- Confidence
- 50% confidence
- Finding
Data is being sent to an external URL. This could be legitimate telemetry or data exfiltration. Manual review is recommended.
- Content
Test directly with curl:
bash curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search?q=test&count=1" \ -H "Accept: application/json" \ -H "X-Subscription-Token: YOUR_API_KEY"
External Transmission
Medium
- Category
- Data Exfiltration
- Confidence
- 50% confidence
- Finding
Data is being sent to an external URL. This could be legitimate telemetry or data exfiltration. Manual review is recommended.
- Content
Test directly with curl:
bash curl -s "https://api.search.brave.com/res/v1/web/search?q=test&count=1" \ -H "Accept: application/json" \ -H "X-Subscription-Token: YOUR_API_KEY"
Sudo/Root Execution
Medium
- Category
- Privilege Escalation
- Confidence
- 84% confidence
- Finding
The skill instructs use of sudo tee to write a system-wide proxychains configuration under /usr/local/etc. Although this is a common administration step, elevated execution increases the risk of unintended system-wide changes, misuse if the pasted content is altered, and broader impact on networking behavior for other tools.
- Content
md brew install proxychains-ng # Configure sudo tee /usr/local/etc/proxychains.conf <<EOF strict_chain proxy_dns [ProxyList]
Missing User Warnings
Low
- Category
- Not specified by scanner
- Confidence
- 92% confidence
- Finding
The skill instructs users to append proxy environment variables to ~/.zshrc, which makes the proxy persistent across future shell sessions and can silently affect unrelated tools and traffic. In a networking/proxy setup skill this is contextually relevant, but the lack of an explicit warning about persistence and broader system effects can lead to misconfiguration, privacy issues, or confusing network behavior.
- Content
Static analysis
No suspicious patterns detected.