cortex-mem-mcp

• Outcome: Pass
• Latest audit: May 29, 2026, 8:33 PM
• Version:
  2.7.0

Overview

This is a disclosed persistent-memory skill, but users should be careful about what it stores and which external services receive that data.

Before installing, verify the upstream cortex-mem-mcp package or release, use scoped provider API keys, keep config files out of repositories, restrict config permissions, avoid storing secrets or regulated data, and disable auto-triggering if you want explicit control over what gets saved.

SkillSpector

By NVIDIA

Vulnerability Patterns

• Data Exfiltration: External Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
• Rogue Agent: Self-Modification, Session Persistence
• Prompt Injection: Instruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands
• Privilege Escalation: Excessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
• Supply Chain: Unpinned Dependencies, External Script Fetching, Obfuscated Code

Findings (8)

Missing User Warnings

Medium

• Confidence: 94% confidence
• Finding: The skill is explicitly designed to persist conversations, user preferences, and interaction history across sessions, but the documentation does not warn users about retention, sensitivity, consent, or privacy implications. In a memory-oriented skill, this omission is significant because operators may store personal or confidential data without understanding that it will be retained and made searchable over time.

Missing User Warnings

Medium

• Confidence: 96% confidence
• Finding: The configuration examples place API keys directly in a plaintext config file without any warning about secret management or filesystem protections. This encourages insecure operational practices: keys may be committed to source control, exposed via backups, or read by other local users/processes if permissions are weak.

Missing User Warnings

Medium

• Confidence: 88% confidence
• Finding: The documented delete operation is destructive, yet the skill does not warn that deletion may be irreversible or that it can remove stored memory context relied upon by agents. In a persistent-memory system, accidental deletion can cause data loss, loss of auditability, and disruption of agent behavior.

External Transmission

Medium

• Category: Data Exfiltration

Content

[llm]
# LLM API configuration
api_base_url = "https://api.openai.com/v1"
api_key = "your-api-key"
model_efficient = "gpt-4o-mini"
temperature = 0.1

• Confidence: 92% confidence
• Finding: https://api.openai.com/

External Transmission

Medium

• Category: Data Exfiltration

Content

[embedding]
# Embedding configuration
api_base_url = "https://api.openai.com/v1"
api_key = "your-embedding-api-key"
model_name = "text-embedding-3-small"
batch_size = 10

• Confidence: 92% confidence
• Finding: https://api.openai.com/

External Transmission

Medium

• Category: Data Exfiltration

Content

data_dir = "./cortex-data"

[llm]
api_base_url = "https://api.openai.com/v1"
api_key = "your-api-key"
model_efficient = "gpt-4o-mini"

• Confidence: 89% confidence
• Finding: https://api.openai.com/

External Transmission

Medium

• Category: Data Exfiltration

Content

model_efficient = "gpt-4o-mini"

[embedding]
api_base_url = "https://api.openai.com/v1"
api_key = "your-api-key"
model_name = "text-embedding-3-small"

• Confidence: 89% confidence
• Finding: https://api.openai.com/

Session Persistence

Medium

• Category: Rogue Agent

Content

## Configuration

### Step 1: Create Configuration File

Create a `config.toml` file (e.g., `~/.config/cortex-mem/config.toml`):

• Confidence: 95% confidence
• Finding: Create Configuration File Create a `config.toml` file (e.g., `~/.config/cortex-mem/config.toml`): ```toml [cortex] # Data directory for storing memories data_dir = "~/.cortex-data" [llm] # LLM API

VirusTotal

58/58 vendors flagged this skill as clean.