T08 · Insecure Dependencies
- Location
SKILL.md:116- Finding
Unpinned Third-Party Dependency Installation
- Content
View full analysis
Vulnerability Details
File Location:
SKILL.md, lines 116 and 216–217
Vulnerability Type: T08: Insecure Dependencies
Risk Level: MediumVulnerable code snippets:
bash pip install python-telegram-bot requestsmarkdown | python-telegram-bot | Python library | Required | `pip install python-telegram-bot` | | requests | Python library | Required | `pip install requests` |Technical Analysis
The skill instructs users or agents to install third-party packages without specifying reviewed versions, cryptographic hashes, a lockfile, or an explicitly trusted package index. Package resolution therefore depends on mutable repository state and the local
pipconfiguration.Installing a Python package can execute package build or installation logic under the invoking user's privileges. Although the documented package names are established projects and no malicious package is included in this artifact, the installation process remains exposed to compromised releases, unsafe package-index configuration, repository substitution, and incompatible future releases.
The artifact contains only
SKILL.md; it does not include the referenced Python implementation or a dependency manifest that could constrain and verify the dependency graph.Attack Path
- A user loads the skill and follows its environment setup instructions.
- The user or agent executes
pip install python-telegram-bot requests. pipresolves unspecified package versions through the user's configured package index and dependency sources.- An attacker compromises a resolved release or influences an untrusted or substituted package index.
- The attacker-controlled package or build logic executes during installation or when imported later.
- The payload runs with the permissions of the account that invoked
pip.
Impact Assessment
Successful exploitation could execute arbitrary code with the invoking user's ...[truncated 517 chars]
- Remediation
View remediation
Remediation Suggestions
- Pin every direct and transitive dependency to a reviewed version in a committed dependency manifest.
- Generate hashes for all approved distributions and require verification during installation:
bash python -m pip install --require-hashes -r requirements.txt - Specify an explicitly trusted package index and prevent unintended fallback to additional indexes.
- Use a lockfile-producing dependency-management process and review dependency changes before release.
- Install dependencies in an isolated virtual environment under a non-privileged account.
- Add automated dependency vulnerability and provenance scanning to the release process.
- Include the actual implementation referenced by the documentation so its imports and complete dependency graph can be audited.
