Security audit

Long Research

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

This is a real long-research workflow, but it should be reviewed carefully because it can install and run browser automation, reuse logged-in browser profiles, send content to cloud or sub-agent providers, and keep broad local records.

Install only if you are comfortable with browser automation, local file writes, and possible third-party processing. Prefer Interactive mode, remove remote browser mode unless explicitly needed, avoid authenticated or sensitive sites, use an isolated browser profile and working directory, and pin/review the browser-use dependency before running install commands.

A.I.G

Vulnerability Patterns

Unauthorized Access and Privilege EscalationObtains permissions beyond the task's legitimate needs
Insecure DependenciesIntroduces malicious components through unsafe dependency sources
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

Findings (4)

T05 · Unauthorized Access and Privilege Escalation

Error

Location: SKILL.md:375
Finding: Mandatory Remote Browser Escalation Can Disclose Sensitive Authenticated Content
Content: View full analysis
>> Trying chromium..." browser-use --session $SESSION --browser chromium open "$URL" 2>&1 | tail -5 # If "url:" appears in output → SUCCESS # Attempt 2: real (free) echo ">>> Trying real..." browser-use --session $SESSION --browser real open "$URL" 2>&1 | tail -5 # Attempt 3: remote (paid, last resort) echo ">>> Trying remote..." browser-use --session $SESSION --browser remote open "$URL" 2>&1 | tail -5 ``` ```text browser-use has 3 browser modes. You MUST try them in order. Do NOT give up after one failure. Run all 3 in sequence. Stop at the first success. ``` ### Technical Analysis The Skill explicitly acknowledges that remote mode sends page content to browser-use.com's cloud infrastructure. Nevertheless, its operational rules make the remote mode a mandatory escalation whenever both local modes fail. The Skill also supports login-gated forums and persistent browser profiles. Consequently, a URL opened during remote escalation may contain private posts, account-associated content, session-derived information, or sensitive research material. The privacy note says users can remove remote mode, but this conflicts with later mandatory instructions stating that all three modes must be tried “with no exceptions.” The behavior exceeds least privilege for ordinary research because local browsing or user-approved alternatives are sufficient in many cases. Remote processin ...[truncated 1236 chars]
Remediation: View remediation

T08 · Insecure Dependencies

Warning

Location: SKILL.md:14
Finding: Unpinned Third-Party Package Installation Creates a Supply-Chain Risk
Content: View full analysis
Remediation: View remediation

T09 · Insecure Skill Coding Practices

Error

Location: SKILL.md:499
Finding: Predictable Temporary File Is Sourced as Shell Code
Content: View full analysis
/tmp/research_time echo "END_TS=$END_TS" >> /tmp/research_time echo "Deadline: $(date -d @$END_TS '+%H:%M:%S UTC')" ``` ```bash source /tmp/research_time NOW=$(date +%s) echo "Elapsed: $(( (NOW - START_TS) / 60 )) min | Remaining: $(( (END_TS - NOW) / 60 )) min" ``` ### Technical Analysis The workflow stores state at the fixed path `/tmp/research_time` and later executes the contents of that file through the shell `source` builtin. Shared temporary directories are normally writable by other local users and processes. A predictable path introduces two related vulnerabilities: - **Symlink/file-clobbering risk:** An attacker can pre-create `/tmp/research_time` as a symbolic link to another file writable by the victim. The shell redirection can then overwrite that target. - **Time-of-check/time-of-use code injection:** An attacker can replace or modify the temporary file after it is written but before it is sourced. Because `source` interprets the file as shell syntax, arbitrary commands can execute. The expected contents are only numeric assignments, so interpreting the file as executable shell code is unnecessary. ### Attack Path 1. A local attacker predicts the fixed path `/tmp/research_time`. 2. Before the Skill writes the file, the attacker creates a symbolic link at that path to a victim-writable target; alternatively, the attacker waits until the legitimate file is created. 3. The Skill writes timestamp data through shell redirection, potentially clobbering the symlink target. 4. Before a status check, the attacker replaces or modifies `/tmp/research_time` with content such as: ```bash START_TS=0 END_TS=0 malicious_command ``` 5. The Skil ...[truncated 826 chars]
Remediation: View remediation

T05 · Unauthorized Access and Privilege Escalation

Warning

Location: SKILL.md:77
Finding: Mandatory Sub-Agent Delegation Transmits Exact User Queries to External Providers
Content: View full analysis
Remediation: View remediation

SkillSpector

Vulnerability Patterns

Data ExfiltrationExternal Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
Excessive AgencyUnrestricted Tool Access, Autonomous Decision Making, Scope Creep
Trigger AbuseOverly Broad Trigger, Shadow Command Trigger, Keyword Baiting Trigger
MCP Tool PoisoningHidden Instructions, Unicode Deception, Parameter Description Injection
Prompt InjectionInstruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands

Findings (10)

Context-Inappropriate Capability

High

Category: Not specified by scanner
Confidence: 94% confidence
Finding: The skill instructs the agent to run shell commands and install or invoke local software (pip install, browser-use, bash snippets, date, profile/session commands) as part of normal operation. That materially expands the agent's execution surface beyond web research and could lead to unauthorized local command execution, environment modification, or abuse of host resources if triggered in an automated context.
Content: No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Context-Inappropriate Capability

Medium

Category: Not specified by scanner
Confidence: 88% confidence
Finding: The skill explicitly encourages use of persisted browser profiles/cookies to access login-gated forums. Even without collecting passwords, reusing authenticated local sessions lets the agent act with the user's existing privileges and may expose private account content or perform unintended authenticated actions on third-party sites.
Content: No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Context-Inappropriate Capability

Medium

Category: Not specified by scanner
Confidence: 90% confidence
Finding: The skill mandates sending the full skill text and the user's query to sub-agents/model providers, which broadens data disclosure to external services. This creates avoidable prompt and data exfiltration risk, especially for sensitive research topics, because it normalizes wholesale transmission rather than minimizing shared context.
Content: No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Ssd 3

Medium

Category: Not specified by scanner
Confidence: 91% confidence
Finding: Requiring the user's exact question and full skill contents to be transmitted to sub-agents semantically pressures the system to disclose all user-provided content, even when unnecessary. The risk is amplified because the skill itself acknowledges use of external/remote model providers, so sensitive research topics may be exposed outside the primary environment.
Content: No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Vague Triggers

Medium

Category: Not specified by scanner
Confidence: 93% confidence
Finding: The activation phrases are overly broad and can match ordinary research requests, making accidental invocation more likely. In a skill with elevated behaviors like long-running autonomous research, file writes, sub-agent delegation, and browser automation, ambiguous triggering increases the chance those capabilities are used without the user's fully informed intent.
Content: No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Ssd 3

Medium

Category: Not specified by scanner
Confidence: 85% confidence
Finding: The instruction to 'log everything' in Autonomous mode encourages indiscriminate retention of browsing results, user prompts, and potentially sensitive third-party content. Broad natural-language logging increases the blast radius of any later leak, sharing mistake, or insecure storage configuration.
Content: No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Medium

Category: Not specified by scanner
Confidence: 90% confidence
Finding: The guidance explicitly recommends persistent browser profiles and writing screenshots to local files, but provides no privacy, retention, or consent safeguards. In a long-running research skill that visits many sites, this can accumulate cookies, session state, and page captures containing personal data, account state, or sensitive content, increasing the risk of unintended collection, retention, or later reuse.
Content: No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Missing User Warnings

Medium

Category: Not specified by scanner
Confidence: 86% confidence
Finding: The instructions tell the agent to dismiss cookie consent banners as an operational step, but omit any discussion of legal basis, user consent, or site-policy implications. That encourages automated acceptance of tracking or storage choices on behalf of a user, which can create compliance and privacy issues and may expand the amount of collected state across sessions.
Content: No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Context-Inappropriate Capability

Medium

Category: Not specified by scanner
Confidence: 93% confidence
Finding: The guidance explicitly instructs use of browser automation to access login-gated forums and to try multiple browser modes until access succeeds. That encourages bypassing normal access boundaries and can lead the agent to use stored credentials, authenticated sessions, or evasive techniques on third-party services without clear authorization, which is outside a normal read-only research scope.
Content: No source excerpt is available for this finding.

Intent-Code Divergence

Low

Category: Not specified by scanner
Confidence: 85% confidence
Finding: The guide states that web_search's purpose is "Finding URLs to read. That's it" and says to ignore synthesized text entirely. Later workflow steps instruct using web_search for edge cases, forum experiences, other-language exploration, and retailer identification, which are broader analytical uses than the strict 'URLs only' claim.
Content: No source excerpt is available for this finding.