Versioned security assessment

Report ID: SA-325F9DC6

6/30/2026, 10:53:10 AM

payload security assessment v5

Skill Security Certification Report

Audit History

Audit model: codex Historical report

Skill name: payload
Version: v5
Maintainer: payloadcms
Source: github.com/payloadcms/payload/tree/main/tools/claude-plugin/skills/payload/
Coverage: 12 Files scanned · 6,648 Lines analyzed
Policy version: Unavailable

Highest confirmed finding severity

Medium

3 confirmed security findings require 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 sampled evidence shows Markdown documentation and TypeScript examples, not bundled executable code. No prompt injection, malicious network call, credential exfiltration, or hidden code execution was found. Publish with a warning because the skill contains copyable Payload security examples involving secrets, access control, network calls, email, and filesystem paths.

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

12 Files scanned · 6,648 Lines analyzed

4 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.

Source

Binding unavailable
Artifact

Identity incomplete
Audit

Complete
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 3 evidence locations

Filesystem access

May read or write local files.

Observed in 3 evidence locations

Env variables

May read values from the process environment.

Observed in 3 evidence locations

External commands

May invoke commands or programs outside the Skill.

Observed in 3 evidence locations

Risk findings

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

Confirmed security concerns (3)

RISK-001 Medium

reference/ADVANCED.md:345-352

Copyable Empty Secret Fallback

A localization example sets the Payload secret from an environment variable with an empty string fallback. If copied into production, this can weaken signing and authentication behavior when the secret is missing.

The code directly uses an empty fallback for PAYLOAD_SECRET. The example is documentation, so it is not malicious, but the copied pattern is unsafe.

RISK-002 Medium

reference/ACCESS-CONTROL-ADVANCED.md:65-89

Header-Based IP Access Example Needs Hardening

The advanced access-control example reads x-forwarded-for or x-real-ip and compares the raw value to an allowed list. This can fail for CIDR entries and can be spoofed without trusted proxy normalization.

The example explicitly uses proxy headers and a raw includes check. The surrounding note mentions middleware, but the copyable code still lacks normalization and trust-boundary checks.

RISK-003 Low

SKILL.md:237-253 reference/QUERIES.md:151-168 reference/ACCESS-CONTROL.md:655-672

Local API Access-Control Bypass Is Documented as a Pitfall

The skill shows Payload Local API calls that bypass access control by default and then provides the secure overrideAccess false alternative. This is useful guidance, but users must avoid copying the intentionally wrong example.

The bypass behavior is real and clearly documented as dangerous. Confidence is high because the same warning appears in multiple references with the secure fix.

Needs review findings (1)

REVIEW-001 Low

SKILL.md:71-76 reference/ADAPTERS.md:14-27 reference/ADAPTERS.md:303-307

Environment Variable Examples Are Legitimate but Sensitive

The skill documents PAYLOAD_SECRET, DATABASE_URL, SMTP_HOST, SMTP_USER, and SMTP_PASS usage. These are normal Payload configuration examples, but generated code must not log, hardcode, or expose those values.

The values are read from environment variables and are not transmitted in the sampled examples. They still require careful handling because they are production secrets.

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 (2)

Low

SKILL.md:14-27 SKILL.md:44-48 reference/PLUGIN-DEVELOPMENT.md:1333-1338

Markdown Backticks Misclassified as Command Execution

The large external command count is a false positive. The sampled locations are Markdown tables, fenced bash examples, and TypeScript snippets rather than executable skill scripts.

The evidence is rendered documentation. No file reviewed contains a bundled script or shell execution mechanism in the skill itself.

Low

reference/QUERIES.md:208-214 reference/ADVANCED.md:374-386 SKILL.md:389-393

External Documentation and Fetch Examples Require User Consent

The skill links to Payload documentation and includes a fetch call to an example API URL. These are not exfiltration patterns, but assistants should not fetch external resources without user intent.

The URLs are Payload resources or example.com, and no credentials are included. The risk is operational network access, not malicious behavior.

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