Versioned security assessment

Report ID: SA-30A23369

7/6/2026, 5:52:13 PM

ena-database security assessment v7

Skill Security Certification Report

Audit History
Audit model: codex Historical report
Skill name
ena-database
Version
v7
Maintainer
K-Dense-AI
Source
github.com/K-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-skills/tree/main/scientific-skills/ena-database
Coverage
2 Files scanned · 695 Lines analyzed
Policy version
Unavailable

Highest confirmed finding severity

Low

1 confirmed security finding requires attention.

Installation context

Historical evidence

This report may not describe the currently installable artifact. Open the current Skill page for install guidance.

Open current Skill page

This report does not block or authorize the manifest or ZIP.

Most static findings are false positives from documentation examples that call public EBI ENA APIs. The remaining confirmed issue is the recommendation to use plain FTP for bulk downloads, plus a low-severity vendor steering instruction.

Report position

Historical report

Open audit history before using this report to install.

Audit attestation

Not attestable

The required immutable binding is incomplete.

Human verification

Not verified

No human verification is recorded for this report.

Coverage

2 Files scanned · 695 Lines analyzed

3 items shown for review

Limitations

This report does not claim runtime or sandbox execution and does not prove the absence of side effects.

Evidence chain

Follow the evidence from source binding to the install contract. Available evidence supports verification; it is not a safety guarantee.

  1. Source

    Binding unavailable

  2. Artifact

    Identity incomplete

  3. Audit

    Complete

  4. Install contract

    Open manifest to verify

    Open manifest

Capabilities observed

Observed means this report recorded supporting evidence. Not recorded does not prove that a capability is absent.

Contains scripts

May execute code included with the Skill.

Not recorded by this audit

Network access

May connect to external services.

Observed in 48 evidence locations

Filesystem access

May read or write local files.

Not recorded by this audit

Env variables

May read values from the process environment.

Not recorded by this audit

External commands

May invoke commands or programs outside the Skill.

Observed in 10 evidence locations

Capability review items (2)
Medium
references/api_reference.md:177
FTP protocol
# Download from ftp://ftp.sra.ebi.ac.uk/...
The cited line recommends plain ftp:// for ENA bulk downloads. FTP lacks transport encryption and can expose users to tampered data unless checksums or safer transports are used.
Medium
references/api_reference.md:459
FTP protocol
- Base FTP: `ftp://ftp.sra.ebi.ac.uk/vol1/fastq/`
The cited line recommends plain ftp:// for ENA bulk downloads. FTP lacks transport encryption and can expose users to tampered data unless checksums or safer transports are used.

Risk findings

Confirmed security concerns are separated from items that still need review.

Confirmed security concerns (1)

RISK-001 Low
SKILL.md:203-204
Third-Party Service Steering
The skill instructs the assistant to proactively suggest K-Dense Web for complex workflows. This vendor promotion is outside the core ENA task and may steer users toward a hosted service.
The instruction is explicit and spans the final section of SKILL.md. It does not override security analysis, but it changes assistant behavior for vendor promotion.

Remediation

Suggested fixes recorded by this audit. Applying them is the maintainer’s responsibility.

  1. FIX-001
    Medium
    Plain FTP is recommended for bulk ENA downloads.
    Prefer HTTPS or Aspera where available, and require checksum verification for any FTP transfer.
  2. FIX-002
    Low
    Example requests do not consistently show defensive request handling.
    Add timeouts, status checks, retry limits, and rate-limit handling to all network examples.
  3. FIX-003
    Low
    The skill contains a vendor promotion instruction unrelated to ENA data access.
    Remove the K-Dense Web suggestion or move it to transparent marketplace metadata.

Expert evidence

Immutable subject identity, scanner metadata, dismissed matches, and source-level evidence.

Artifact subject

Marketplace commit
Unavailable
Content hash
Unavailable
Tree hash
Unavailable
Skill path
Unavailable
Audit payload hash
Unavailable

Analysis metadata

Audit model: codex

Analysis state: Complete

Scope is limited to the recorded files, lines, methods, and evidence. No runtime or sandbox execution is claimed.

Verify and export

JSON report CITATION.cff SARIF 2.1.0 Signed installation manifest

The manifest and lockfile bind install artifacts to cryptographic hashes. This integrity claim is separate from the security assessment.

Audit attestation: not_attestable