Versioned security assessment

Report ID: SA-158E8CCB

6/30/2026, 6:39:05 AM

scientific-writing security assessment v5

Skill Security Certification Report

Audit History
Audit model: codex Historical report
Skill name
scientific-writing
Version
v5
Maintainer
K-Dense-AI
Source
github.com/K-Dense-AI/claude-scientific-skills/tree/main/scientific-skills/scientific-writing
Coverage
11 Files scanned · 6,962 Lines analyzed
Policy version
Unavailable

Highest confirmed finding severity

Medium

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.

Static analysis reported many high-risk patterns, but most are false positives from Markdown, LaTeX syntax, relative figure paths, and reference URLs. The remaining real risk is bounded: the skill allows Bash and gives local document-generation commands, so users should review commands before execution. No prompt injection or malicious exfiltration evidence was found.

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

11 Files scanned · 6,962 Lines analyzed

1 item 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.

Observed in 3 evidence locations

Network access

May connect to external services.

Observed in 4 evidence locations

Filesystem access

May read or write local files.

Observed in 3 evidence locations

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 4 evidence locations

Risk findings

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

Confirmed security concerns (1)

RISK-001 Medium
SKILL.md:4SKILL.md:52-54SKILL.md:82-84SKILL.md:98-100SKILL.md:478-481assets/REPORT_FORMATTING_GUIDE.md:442-453
Bash-enabled workflow with local command examples
The skill declares Bash access and includes examples that run Python figure generators and LaTeX compilers. This is legitimate for manuscript production, but it can execute local commands and write output files.
The command examples are explicit and Bash is allowed. Confidence is not higher because the commands are normal document-generation operations, not evidence of malicious intent.

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.

Static false positives ignored (4)
Low
assets/REPORT_FORMATTING_GUIDE.md:3-7assets/REPORT_FORMATTING_GUIDE.md:70-75assets/scientific_report.sty:6-18references/writing_principles.md:17-27
Markdown and LaTeX syntax misclassified as execution or weak crypto
Many static hits are inline Markdown code, fenced LaTeX examples, or LaTeX package commands. These are documentation and typesetting syntax, not Ruby backtick execution or cryptographic code.
The cited lines show Markdown formatting, LaTeX environments, and package declarations. No interpreter invocation or cryptographic operation appears in those examples.
Low
assets/REPORT_FORMATTING_GUIDE.md:334-340assets/REPORT_FORMATTING_GUIDE.md:345-352assets/scientific_report_template.tex:45-50references/professional_report_formatting.md:321
Relative figure paths are LaTeX examples, not path traversal
The path traversal alerts point to LaTeX includegraphics examples using parent-directory figure paths. They do not read arbitrary user paths or implement file access logic.
The cited paths are static LaTeX image references inside examples. There is no code that accepts user-controlled paths or traverses the filesystem.
Low
references/reporting_guidelines.md:86references/reporting_guidelines.md:619-625references/citation_styles.md:204-209references/citation_styles.md:695-720
Reference URLs are documentation links, not network beacons
Hardcoded URL alerts point to DOI examples, citation resources, and reporting guideline websites. The files do not contain fetch, curl, or other network-call logic.
The URLs are visibly presented as human reference links and citation examples. No evidence found of automated network access or data exfiltration.
Low
references/writing_principles.md:686-692references/imrad_structure.md:164references/reporting_guidelines.md:512-516
Scientific review language misclassified as reconnaissance
System reconnaissance alerts appear to be triggered by scientific terms such as review, evaluate, and check. The surrounding context is manuscript quality guidance, not host or network discovery.
The reviewed text concerns peer review, manuscript validity, and reporting checklists. No host enumeration or network scanning instructions were found.

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