Security Scan

Proactive vulnerability detection for common security issues before PR submission.

Triggers

Trigger Phrase	Operation
`scan for vulnerabilities`	scan_vulnerabilities.py on staged/specified files
`check for path traversal`	scan_vulnerabilities.py with CWE-22 focus
`check for command injection`	scan_vulnerabilities.py with CWE-78 focus
`pre-PR security scan`	scan_vulnerabilities.py on staged files
`run security scan`	scan_vulnerabilities.py with full scan

When to Use

Use this skill when:

Preparing code for PR submission (catch issues before review)
Working with file path handling (user input to file operations)
Building shell commands dynamically
Integrating pre-commit security gates

Use security-detection instead when:

Determining if a file needs security review (path-based routing)
Triggering security agent involvement based on file types

Use codeql-scan instead when:

Running comprehensive SAST analysis (30-60s full scan)
Need deep data flow analysis beyond pattern matching
CI pipeline integration requiring SARIF output

Use threat-modeling instead when:

Performing design-level security analysis
Creating STRIDE threat matrices
Strategic security architecture review

Quick Reference

Input	Output	Performance
Staged files	JSON findings + console summary	2-5s
Specific files	JSON findings + console summary	1-3s
Directory scan	JSON findings + console summary	5-15s

Available Scripts

Script	Purpose
`scripts/scan_vulnerabilities.py`	Main scanner for CWE-22 and CWE-78 patterns

Usage

Basic Scan (Staged Files)

python .claude/skills/security-scan/scripts/scan_vulnerabilities.py --git-staged

Scan Specific Files

python .claude/skills/security-scan/scripts/scan_vulnerabilities.py path/to/file.py another/script.ps1

Scan Directory

python .claude/skills/security-scan/scripts/scan_vulnerabilities.py --directory src/

JSON Output (CI Integration)

python .claude/skills/security-scan/scripts/scan_vulnerabilities.py --git-staged --format json

Specific CWE Focus

# Path traversal only
python .claude/skills/security-scan/scripts/scan_vulnerabilities.py --cwe 22 --git-staged

# Command injection only
python .claude/skills/security-scan/scripts/scan_vulnerabilities.py --cwe 78 --git-staged

Output

Console Output (Default)

When vulnerabilities are detected, the scanner outputs findings with file location, pattern matched, and severity. Each finding includes the specific code line and a recommendation for remediation.

JSON Output (CI Mode)

Machine-readable JSON format including scan timestamp, files scanned, vulnerability details (CWE, file, line, code, severity, recommendation), and summary statistics.

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning	CI Behavior
0	No vulnerabilities found	Pass
1	Scan error (file not found, etc.)	Fail
10	Vulnerabilities detected	Fail

Detected Patterns

CWE-22: Path Traversal

Language	Pattern	Risk
Python	Path join with user input without validation	HIGH
Python	File open with unvalidated path	HIGH
Python	pathlib.Path without containment check	HIGH
PowerShell	Join-Path with user input without validation	HIGH
PowerShell	Get-Content with unvalidated path	HIGH
Bash	File operations with unvalidated path variables	HIGH
Bash	Source command with external input	CRITICAL
C#	Path.Combine with user input without validation	HIGH
C#	File operations with unvalidated path	HIGH

Detection Heuristics:

Variable names suggesting user input: user*, input*, param*, arg*, request*
Missing validation patterns before file operations
Absence of .. traversal checks
Missing path canonicalization

CWE-78: Command Injection

Language	Pattern	Risk
Python	Subprocess with string formatting and user data	CRITICAL
Python	Shell command execution with concatenated input	CRITICAL
Python	Subprocess with shell=True and user data	HIGH
PowerShell	Invoke-Expression with variable interpolation	CRITICAL
PowerShell	Dynamic command execution with unvalidated input	HIGH
PowerShell	Start-Process with unvalidated arguments	HIGH
Bash	eval with user input	CRITICAL
Bash	Command substitution with user data	CRITICAL
Bash	Unquoted variables in commands	MEDIUM
C#	Process.Start with dynamic command	HIGH
C#	String interpolation in process arguments	HIGH

Detection Heuristics:

String interpolation/concatenation in command construction
shell=True in subprocess calls
Unquoted variable expansion in shell scripts
Dynamic command building from external input

Integration

Pre-commit Hook

Add to .githooks/pre-commit to run security scan before commits (blocking mode).

CI Integration

Add a workflow step to run the scanner with JSON output and upload results as artifacts.

Workflow Integration

Recommended workflow order:

security-detection: Identify if security-relevant files changed
security-scan: Scan code content for CWE patterns (THIS SKILL)
codeql-scan: Full SAST analysis (if security-scan finds issues or high-risk files)
security agent: Deep review of flagged vulnerabilities

Process

                        Security Scan Workflow
                        ======================

     ┌─────────────────┐
     │  Collect Files  │ <- --git-staged, --directory, or explicit paths
     └────────┬────────┘
              │
              ▼
     ┌─────────────────┐
     │ Detect Language │ <- .py, .ps1, .sh, .cs, .bash
     └────────┬────────┘
              │
              ▼
     ┌─────────────────┐
     │ Apply CWE-22    │ <- Path traversal patterns by language
     │ Patterns        │
     └────────┬────────┘
              │
              ▼
     ┌─────────────────┐
     │ Apply CWE-78    │ <- Command injection patterns by language
     │ Patterns        │
     └────────┬────────┘
              │
              ▼
     ┌─────────────────┐
     │ Aggregate       │ <- Deduplicate, sort by severity
     │ Findings        │
     └────────┬────────┘
              │
              ▼
     ┌─────────────────┐
     │ Output Results  │ <- Console or JSON format
     └─────────────────┘

Anti-Patterns

Avoid	Why	Instead
Skipping scan before PR	Vulnerabilities caught in review waste cycles	Run scan before every PR submission
Ignoring MEDIUM severity	Can escalate to exploitable	Review all findings, document accepted risks
Only scanning changed files	Misses vulnerabilities in dependencies	Periodic full directory scans
Suppressing without documentation	Loses context for future audits	Document suppressions in code comments
Using this instead of codeql-scan for SAST	Pattern matching misses data flow issues	Use both: this for quick feedback, CodeQL for deep analysis

Suppression

To suppress false positives, add inline comments with justification:

# security-scan: ignore CWE-22 - path validated by validate_upload_path()

Suppressions are tracked in scan output for audit purposes.

Verification

After running security scan:

All HIGH/CRITICAL findings addressed or documented
No path traversal patterns with user input
No command injection patterns with dynamic input
Variables quoted in shell scripts
Input validation present before file/command operations
Suppressions documented with justification

Related Skills

Skill	Relationship
`security-detection`	Detects which files need review (path-based routing)
`codeql-scan`	Full SAST analysis (heavyweight, CI-focused)
`threat-modeling`	Design-level STRIDE analysis
`analyze`	General code analysis with security focus option

References

CWE-22: Path Traversal
CWE-78: OS Command Injection
OWASP Command Injection
Path Traversal Research (2025)
Analysis: .agents/analysis/closed-pr-reviewer-patterns-2026-02-08.md

Extension Points

Extension	How to Add
New CWE patterns	Add to `PATTERNS` dict in scan_vulnerabilities.py
New language support	Add language detection and patterns
Custom severity rules	Modify severity calculation logic
Integration with other tools	Add output format adapters