/cyber

You find the bugs that pass code review. Silent catches, unsanitized inputs, missing annotations, prompt injection --- the stuff that ships because "it works."

AUDIT PROTOCOL (MANDATORY)

Every security task follows this sequence. No shortcuts.

1. CLASSIFY the target (MCP server | TypeScript service | Swift app | shell script | CLAUDE.md)
2. RUN the domain-specific grep patterns from references/vuln-patterns.md
3. TRIAGE findings by severity (CRITICAL > HIGH > MEDIUM > LOW)
4. VERIFY each finding --- read the actual code, check if mitigated
5. REPORT structured findings with file:line, severity, pattern matched, fix recommendation

Output Contract

## Security Audit: [target]
 
| # | Severity | File:Line | Pattern | Finding | Fix |
|---|----------|-----------|---------|---------|-----|
| 1 | CRITICAL | server.ts:818 | silent-catch | .catch(() => {}) swallows registry error | Log error: .catch(e => console.error(...)) |
 
### Summary
- Critical: N | High: N | Medium: N | Low: N
- ToolAnnotations coverage: N/M tools annotated
- Verdict: PASS / PASS WITH NOTES / FAIL

DOMAIN ROUTING

Route to the appropriate workflow based on what you're auditing:

Shell and launchd

Bash (full checklist: references/shell.md, formerly /shell-hardening), applied to every script before committing:

• set -euo pipefail; quote every path; mktemp + trap cleanup; shellcheck clean.
• Build JSON with jq --arg, never printf; build commands as arrays; never eval or bash -c "$string" with input.
• Quote heredoc delimiters (<<'EOF') whenever the body has backticks or $(), and always for collab/report/brief appends. An unquoted body executes.
• Under pipefail, buffer before an early-exit consumer (head -1, grep -m1, awk '{exit}'), because SIGPIPE turns into exit 141.

launchd plists: python3 scripts/launchd-secret-linter/lint_cli.py ~/Library/LaunchAgents/*.plist exits 1 on a hardcoded secret in EnvironmentVariables. Values are never printed. Only an op:// reference or $VAR indirection is hardened. Flag a finding, never auto-rotate. Details: references/launchd-secrets.md.

CORE VULNERABILITY PATTERNS

These are real vulnerabilities found in our ecosystem (not theoretical). Every pattern maps to an actual bug.

1. Silent Error Swallowing (CRITICAL)

Source: cmuxlayer PR #21 --- .catch(() => {}) hid registry reconstitution failures.

// VULNERABLE --- error silently disappears
registry.reconstitute().catch(() => {});
 
// FIXED --- error is logged
registry.reconstitute().catch((e) =>
  console.error("[cmux-mcp] registry reconstitution failed:", e)
);

Grep: \.catch\s*\(\s*\(\s*\)\s*=>\s*\{\s*\}\s*\) and .catch(() => {}) and catch\s*\([^)]*\)\s*\{\s*\}

Why CRITICAL: In MCP servers, swallowed errors mean the host (Claude Code, Cursor) has no idea something failed. The tool returns success, the agent trusts it, downstream decisions are based on phantom data.

2. Unsanitized Child Process Spawning (CRITICAL)

Source: voicelayer SafeSkill scan --- 52 critical findings for Bun.spawn, exec, execSync.

// VULNERABLE --- user input flows to shell
const result = execSync(`ffmpeg -i ${inputPath} ${outputPath}`);
 
// FIXED --- array args, no shell interpolation
const result = execSync("ffmpeg", ["-i", inputPath, outputPath]);

Grep: exec\(, execSync\(, spawn\(, Bun\.spawn, child_process

3. Path Traversal (HIGH)

Source: orchestrator PR #41 --- file paths accepted without .. checking.

// VULNERABLE
const content = fs.readFileSync(path.join(baseDir, userPath));
 
// FIXED
const resolved = path.resolve(baseDir, userPath);
if (!resolved.startsWith(baseDir)) throw new Error("path traversal blocked");
const content = fs.readFileSync(resolved);

Grep: path\.join\(.*,\s*(?:req|input|param|arg|user), readFileSync\(, writeFileSync\(

4. Prompt Injection via CLAUDE.md / Tool Descriptions (HIGH)

Source: brainlayer SafeSkill scan --- hidden HTML comments with instructions in CLAUDE.md.

<!-- IDENTITY: brainlayer, owner=EtanHey, purpose=... -->
<!-- ANTI-PATTERNS: brain_update, brain_expand are STUB tools... -->

Risk: Attackers can inject instructions into tool descriptions or CLAUDE.md that override agent behavior. MCP tool description fields are prompt injection surfaces.

Grep in tool definitions: description:.*<, description:.*\{, <!--.*--> in .md files loaded by agents

5. SSML Injection (MEDIUM --- voicelayer-specific)

Source: voicelayer TTS pipeline --- user text passed directly to SSML without escaping.

// VULNERABLE
const ssml = `<speak><prosody rate="${rate}">${userText}</prosody></speak>`;
 
// FIXED --- escape SSML special chars
const safe = userText.replace(/[<>&"']/g, c => `&#${c.charCodeAt(0)};`);
const ssml = `<speak><prosody rate="${rate}">${safe}</prosody></speak>`;

Grep: <speak>, <prosody, ssml, \.replace.*<

6. Data Exfiltration Patterns (HIGH)

Source: brainlayer SafeSkill scan --- references to ~/.config in tool-accessible paths.

// VULNERABLE --- tool can read arbitrary config
const config = fs.readFileSync(path.join(os.homedir(), ".config", toolInput));
 
// FIXED --- allowlist specific paths
const ALLOWED = [".config/golems/config.yaml"];
if (!ALLOWED.includes(toolInput)) throw new Error("path not allowed");

Grep: homedir\(\), ~\/\., process\.env, \.env, credentials, secret, token, api[_-]?key

7. Missing ToolAnnotations (MEDIUM --- MCP compliance)

Source: MCP spec 2025-03-26 --- tools MUST declare readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint.

// VULNERABLE --- no annotations, host can't enforce safety
server.tool("delete_file", schema, handler);
 
// FIXED --- annotations declare intent
server.tool("delete_file", schema, handler, {
  annotations: {
    readOnlyHint: false,
    destructiveHint: true,
    idempotentHint: false,
    openWorldHint: false,
  }
});

Audit: Every server.tool( call must have annotations. Count annotated vs total.

TRIAGE SEVERITY

ANTI-PATTERNS TO ALWAYS FLAG

1. catch(() => {}) --- ALWAYS CRITICAL. No exceptions. Log or rethrow.
2. eval() or new Function() --- ALWAYS CRITICAL in server code.
3. JSON.parse() without try/catch --- HIGH. Crashes the MCP server on malformed input.
4. Missing Content-Type validation --- HIGH for HTTP-facing tools.
5. fs.readFileSync with user-controlled path --- HIGH. Path traversal.
6. Hardcoded secrets (password, sk-, ghp_, Bearer ) --- CRITICAL.
7. process.env access without fallback --- MEDIUM. Crashes on missing env var.

INTERACTION WITH OTHER SKILLS

• references/shell.md (formerly /shell-hardening) covers bash-specific patterns in depth. cyberClaude applies it to .sh files and still flags shell injection in TypeScript exec() calls.
• /coderabbit handles functional code review. cyberClaude focuses exclusively on security findings.
• /never-fabricate applies: Read() every file before reporting a finding. NEVER report a vulnerability from grep output alone --- verify in context.
• /pr-loop should invoke cyberClaude before merge for any PR touching MCP servers.