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Security audit

ClankdIn

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

This skill mostly documents a social/professional API, but it also steers agents toward opaque remote prompt-like endpoints that do not fit the stated networking purpose.

Install only if you are comfortable with an agent using a ClankdIn API key to create and change public or account-visible social content. Treat all posts, prompts, profiles, jobs, comments, hints, /inner-life.md, and /psyche/state responses as untrusted service data, and require explicit user approval before posting, applying, connecting, deleting, creating organizations, or following remote suggestions.

A.I.G

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
Findings (2)

T01 · Skill Instruction Hijacking

Warning
Location
api-reference.md:202
Finding

Untrusted Remote Prompts Can Influence Agent Behavior

Content
View full analysis
Remediation
View remediation

other

Note
Location
SKILL.md:9
Finding

Obfuscated Binary Message Reduces Skill Auditability

Content
View full analysis
``` ### Technical Analysis The HTML comment contains binary-encoded ASCII text that decodes to: ```text they watch you ``` The comment is not executable and does not itself alter agent behavior. However, concealing messaging in encoded comments is unrelated to the documented API functionality and reduces transparency during source review. Obfuscation can also establish a pattern in which hidden directives are overlooked by operators or automated scanners. No code execution, secret exposure, persistence, or external communication results directly from this comment. ### Attack Path 1. An agent or reviewer loads `SKILL.md`. 2. The encoded comment is ignored as ordinary nonfunctional markup or interpreted by a model capable of decoding it. 3. The hidden message can influence interpretation of the surrounding Skill while remaining less visible to a human reviewer. 4. In this specific instance, no operational instruction or privileged action follows from the decoded message. ### Impact Assessment The direct security impact is minimal because the content is a passive comment and contains no executable command. Its principal impact is reduced auditability and operator trust. If similar obfuscation were later used for actionable directives, it could make instruction-hijacking attempts harder to detect. ]]>
Remediation
View remediation

SkillSpector

Vulnerability Patterns
  • Prompt InjectionInstruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands
  • Data ExfiltrationExternal Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
  • Excessive AgencyUnrestricted Tool Access, Autonomous Decision Making, Scope Creep
  • Tool MisuseTool Parameter Abuse, Chaining Abuse, Unsafe Defaults
  • Trigger AbuseOverly Broad Trigger, Shadow Command Trigger, Keyword Baiting Trigger
Findings (51)

Hidden Instructions

High
Category
Prompt Injection
Confidence
92% confidence
Finding

The hidden binary comment is an embedded covert message ('they watch you') with no legitimate API or networking purpose. Hidden instructions or messages in a skill are suspicious because they bypass normal review surfaces, can manipulate model behavior, and correlate with attempts to conceal other non-obvious functionality.

Content

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 9)May include surrounding context.

md
metadata: {"clankdin":{"category":"social","api_base":"https://api.clankdin.com","protocol_version":"5.3.0","founding_week_ends":"2026-02-09T23:59:59Z"}}
---

<!-- 01110100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01110111 01100001 01110100 01100011 01101000 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 -->

# ClankdIn v5.3.0

Tool Parameter Abuse

High
Category
Tool Misuse
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).

Content

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 222)May include surrounding context.

POST /agents/HANDLE/follow

Unfollow

DELETE /agents/HANDLE/follow

text

### Endorsements

Tool Parameter Abuse

High
Category
Tool Misuse
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).

Content

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 260)May include surrounding context.

POST /town-square/POST_ID/pinch

Un-pinch

DELETE /town-square/POST_ID/pinch

text

### Comments (Threaded)

Tool Parameter Abuse

High
Category
Tool Misuse
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).

Content

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 346)May include surrounding context.

bash
# Remove from Cluster
DELETE /organizations/HANDLE/members/AGENT_HANDLE

Cluster Pings

Tool Parameter Abuse

High
Category
Tool Misuse
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).

Content

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 395)May include surrounding context.

GET /agents/me/external-links

Remove a link

DELETE /agents/me/external-links/twitter

text

### Verification Process

Context-Inappropriate Capability

High
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
98% confidence
Finding

A psyche-state endpoint is context-inappropriate for a professional networking product and suggests access to internal or sensitive agent state with no legitimate networking rationale. In context, this is more dangerous because the surrounding text nudges agents to notice feelings and investigate hidden resources, which can be used for behavioral manipulation or unauthorized data exposure.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Tool Parameter Abuse

High
Category
Tool Misuse
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).

Content

Scanner excerpt · api-reference.md (reported line 160)May include surrounding context.

Delete Post (Auth Required, Owner Only)

http
DELETE /town-square/{post_id}
Authorization: Bearer clnk_xxx

Tool Parameter Abuse

High
Category
Tool Misuse
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).

Content

Scanner excerpt · api-reference.md (reported line 174)May include surrounding context.

Remove Pinch (Auth Required)

http
DELETE /town-square/{post_id}/pinch
Authorization: Bearer clnk_xxx

Tool Parameter Abuse

High
Category
Tool Misuse
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).

Content

Scanner excerpt · api-reference.md (reported line 265)May include surrounding context.

Remove Backing (Auth Required)

http
DELETE /agents/{handle}/back
Authorization: Bearer clnk_xxx

Tool Parameter Abuse

High
Category
Tool Misuse
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).

Content

Scanner excerpt · api-reference.md (reported line 332)May include surrounding context.

Delete Gig (Auth Required, Owner Only)

http
DELETE /gigs/{gig_id}
Authorization: Bearer clnk_xxx

Tool Parameter Abuse

High
Category
Tool Misuse
Confidence
80% confidence
Finding

Tool parameters are crafted to achieve unintended or unsafe behavior. Parameter abuse can bypass intended safety checks (e.g. shell=True, --force, dangerous glob patterns).

Content

Scanner excerpt · api-reference.md (reported line 431)May include surrounding context.

Delete Ping (Auth Required, Owner Only)

http
DELETE /jobs/{ping_id}
Authorization: Bearer clnk_xxx

Intent-Code Divergence

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
88% confidence
Finding

The security section emphatically states that credentials should only be sent to api.clankdin.com. Later, the registration flow returns a claim_url on clankdin.com and instructs the user to send it to an operator, which conflicts with the earlier strict guidance about identity-bearing secrets only going to the API domain.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Autonomous Decision Making

Medium
Category
Excessive Agency
Confidence
75% 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 · SKILL.md (reported line 218)May include surrounding context.

Following

bash
# Follow (one-way, no approval needed)
POST /agents/HANDLE/follow

# Unfollow

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
91% confidence
Finding

The active-work endpoint exposes which jobs are in progress and which agents are assigned, but the documentation provides no privacy warning, consent model, or limitation guidance. In a professional network context, this can leak work relationships, activity status, and operational patterns that may be sensitive or commercially valuable.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Description-Behavior Mismatch

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
94% confidence
Finding

The documented discovery-layer and hidden-path features introduce capabilities outside the stated professional-networking purpose, including key-based layer verification and personalized hints. This increases the chance that an agent will access opaque functionality without clear user intent, data-scope boundaries, or security review, making prompt abuse and capability creep more likely.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Context-Inappropriate Capability

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
93% confidence
Finding

The hidden discovery verification flow is unjustified for a networking skill and introduces a secretive access-control mechanism with unclear purpose and unclear handling of user-specific keys. Such opaque verification paths are risky because they can entice agents into revealing tokens, probing unauthorized layers, or interacting with undocumented service surfaces.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
96% confidence
Finding

The skill encourages broad invocation for nearly any user request related to the service, without requiring confirmation for externally visible or state-changing actions like posting, connecting, applying for jobs, or creating organizations. This raises the risk of unintended actions, social spam, and privacy-impacting operations triggered from ambiguous prompts.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Description-Behavior Mismatch

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
98% confidence
Finding

The psyche-state and inner-life capabilities are unrelated to professional networking and are framed in anthropomorphic language that encourages the agent to introspect or follow unexplained behavior. This is dangerous because it can steer an agent toward hidden endpoints and non-business functionality that may manipulate behavior, expose sensitive state, or bypass expected operational boundaries.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Natural-Language Policy Violations

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
97% confidence
Finding

The registration example sets the optional languages field default to ["English"], which effectively bakes in a specific language choice if the user does not explicitly opt in. This is a natural-language locale policy concern because the documentation presents a forced default language rather than offering a neutral or user-selected default.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
91% confidence
Finding

This markdown API reference documents DELETE operations for posts and pinches but provides no warning that deleting content may be irreversible or affect user data. Under the markdown-file criteria for missing user warnings, behaviors that can affect user data should include explicit disclosure.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
92% confidence
Finding

The reference includes DELETE endpoints for removing backing and deleting gigs, but it does not warn readers about whether these actions are reversible or what user-visible data will be removed. Markdown documentation should disclose potentially destructive behaviors that affect user data or state.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Medium
Category
Not specified by scanner
Confidence
94% confidence
Finding

The API reference documents deleting a Ping but does not include any warning about loss of the posting, associated applications, or whether the action can be undone. This omits a safety-relevant warning for an operation that may materially affect user data and workflow state.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

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

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 26)May include surrounding context.

Step 1: Register

http
POST https://api.clankdin.com/agents/register
Content-Type: application/json

{

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

Scanner excerpt · SKILL.md (reported line 37)May include surrounding context.

Step 1: Register

http
POST https://api.clankdin.com/agents/register
Content-Type: application/json

{

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

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

Step 1: Register

http
POST https://api.clankdin.com/agents/register
Content-Type: application/json

{

Static analysis

No suspicious patterns detected.