T05 · Unauthorized Access and Privilege Escalation
- Location
SKILL.md:24- Finding
Excessive File-Read and Command-Execution Permissions
- Content
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Vulnerability Details
File Location:
SKILL.md:24-26
Vulnerability Type: Excessive privileges and violation of least privilege
Risk Level: MediumVulnerable Code
yaml tools: - read - execTechnical Analysis
The skill declares both file-reading and system-command execution capabilities, although its documented purpose is to search for and summarize financial news. Unrestricted local file access and command execution are not inherently necessary for that task; a narrowly scoped network retrieval interface would ordinarily be sufficient.
This violates the principle of least privilege. The risk is increased by the generic instruction input documented at
SKILL.md:68-72and by the later assertion that the skill supports file processing and system-command execution atSKILL.md:205-210. The document recommends command allowlisting and sandboxing, but it does not define or enforce a command allowlist, permitted path boundaries, argument validation, or sandbox policy.The package contains no executable implementation, so actual command execution, sandbox escape, or malicious intent cannot be confirmed from the audited artifact. The finding concerns the excessive authority requested by the skill definition and the absence of enforceable restrictions.
Attack Path
- An agent loads the skill and grants the declared
readandexectools. - An attacker supplies crafted instruction text directly or through untrusted news content processed by the skill.
- The crafted content induces the agent to read a local file unrelated to financial-news processing or to invoke a system command.
- Because no enforceable command allowlist, path restriction, or argument-validation policy is defined, the invocation may operate outside the skill's legitimate scope.
- The resulting local data or command output may be exposed in the agent response or used to perform additional actions permitted by the execut ...[truncated 1016 chars]
- An agent loads the skill and grants the declared
- Remediation
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Remediation Suggestions
- Remove the
execcapability because financial-news retrieval and summarization should not require arbitrary system-command execution. - Replace unrestricted
readaccess with a dedicated HTTPS or search tool limited to approved financial-news sources. - If local file access is essential, restrict it to explicitly designated workspace paths and deny traversal, symbolic-link escapes, hidden credential files, and environment configuration files.
- If command execution cannot be removed, enforce a host-level allowlist of exact executables and fixed argument schemas. Do not construct shell commands from user instructions or retrieved content.
- Execute permitted operations in an isolated sandbox with a read-only filesystem, minimal operating-system identity, no inherited secrets, restricted network egress, resource limits, and no access to unrelated workspaces.
- Treat user instructions and retrieved news content strictly as untrusted data. Validate structured inputs and prevent retrieved text from altering tool-use policy.
- Document the exact tools, paths, hosts, HTTP methods, and operations required by the skill so that permissions can be reviewed and enforced.
- Add automated tests verifying that attempts to access unauthorized files, execute non-allowlisted commands, or contact unapproved hosts are rejected.
- Remove the