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Security audit

Assistant Reliability Watchtower

Security checks for vulnerabilities and agentic risk

Overview

This skill is a disclosed repo-backed reliability wrapper that runs fixed ARW commands and writes expected monitoring artifacts.

Install this only if you intend to run ARW against a trusted local checkout. Review any real alert recipient and out_dir values before enabling immediate alerts or non-dry-run delivery, because the wrapper delegates those effects to the ARW repository configuration.

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
Vulnerability Patterns
  • Data ExfiltrationExternal Transmission, Env Variable Harvesting, File System Enumeration
  • Behavioral ASTexec() Call, eval() Call, Dynamic Import
  • MCP Least PrivilegeUnderdeclared Capability, Wildcard Permission, Missing Permission Declaration
  • Prompt InjectionInstruction Override, Hidden Instructions, Exfiltration Commands
  • Privilege EscalationExcessive Permissions, Sudo/Root Execution, Credential Access
Findings (4)

Env Variable Harvesting

High
Category
Data Exfiltration
Confidence
60% confidence
Finding

Code enumerates, copies, or searches environment variables for secrets. Bulk environment access can collect credentials unrelated to the skill's stated purpose.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/arw_skill.py (reported line 63)May include surrounding context.

python
def _env(repo_root: Path) -> dict[str, str]:
    env = os.environ.copy()
    existing = env.get("PYTHONPATH", "")
    env["PYTHONPATH"] = str(repo_root) if not existing else f"{repo_root}:{existing}"
    return env

Undeclared Tool Scope

Medium
Category
MCP Least Privilege
Confidence
90% confidence
Finding

The skill instructs operators to run a local Python wrapper and explicitly references shell execution, environment variables, and file access, but it declares no tool scope or permissions boundary in the skill manifest. That mismatch increases the chance the skill will be executed with broader-than-necessary capabilities, making unintended command execution, repository writes, or environment exposure more likely in a host agent framework.

Content

No source excerpt is available for this finding.

subprocess module call

Medium
Category
Dangerous Code Execution
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

subprocess module calls execute external commands. Without careful input validation, this enables command injection.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/arw_skill.py (reported line 70)May include surrounding context.

python
def _run(command: list[str], repo_root: Path) -> int:
    result = subprocess.run(command, cwd=repo_root, env=_env(repo_root))
    return result.returncode

subprocess module call

Medium
Category
Dangerous Code Execution
Confidence
70% confidence
Finding

subprocess module calls execute external commands. Without careful input validation, this enables command injection.

Content

Scanner excerpt · scripts/arw_skill.py (reported line 75)May include surrounding context.

python
def _run_capture(command: list[str], repo_root: Path) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess[str]:
    return subprocess.run(
        command,
        cwd=repo_root,
        env=_env(repo_root),