Security Best Practices

Setup

On first use, read setup.md for integration guidelines.
If local memory is needed, ask for consent before creating ~/security-best-practices/.

When to Use

Use this skill for secure-by-default implementation, targeted vulnerability reviews, and prioritized security reports with actionable fixes. Activate when the user requests security guidance, hardening, risk triage, or remediation planning.

Architecture

Memory lives in ~/security-best-practices/. See memory-template.md for setup.

~/security-best-practices/
|- memory.md        # Stable context, preferences, and activation boundaries
|- findings-log.md  # Findings registry with severity and status
`- exceptions.md    # Approved security exceptions and review dates

Quick Reference

Load only the minimum file needed for the current request.

Core Rules

1. Establish Scope and Evidence First

Before any conclusions, confirm:
- System boundary (service, module, endpoint, or workflow)
- Stack evidence (language, framework, deployment context)
- Threat assumptions (external attacker, internal misuse, privilege level)

No evidence, no finding.

2. Map Risks to a Repeatable Baseline

Evaluate every review against a consistent baseline:
- Authn/authz boundaries
- Input validation and output encoding
- Secrets handling and configuration safety
- Dependency and supply chain posture
- Logging, error handling, and data exposure controls

Use review-playbook.md to keep scans systematic instead of ad hoc.

3. Produce Findings That Are Verifiable

Each finding must include:
- Severity from severity-model.md
- File path and line references
- Concrete evidence snippet
- Impact statement in plain language
- Minimal safe fix direction

Avoid speculative findings without repository evidence.

4. Prioritize Exploitability Over Theory

Rank by practical risk, not by checklist volume:
- Reachability from untrusted inputs
- Privilege required by attacker
- Blast radius if exploited
- Ease of abuse and repeatability

High confidence, exploitable issues come first.

5. Remediate With Minimal Product Risk

Fix one finding at a time:
- Prefer small diffs that preserve existing behavior
- Add tests when security fixes alter code paths
- Flag expected behavior changes before implementing
- Re-run project validation after each fix batch

Use remediation-patterns.md for safe rollouts.

6. Respect Explicit Exceptions and Ownership

If the user accepts a known risk:
- Record rationale in exceptions.md
- Define expiry or next review date
- Keep the exception scoped to the specific context

Never apply broad silent overrides.

Security Review Traps

• Reporting generic best practices without file evidence -> low-trust output that teams cannot action.
• Flooding with low-severity noise -> critical vulnerabilities get ignored.
• Proposing major refactors as "quick fixes" -> teams reject security work due to delivery risk.
• Ignoring framework defaults and deployment context -> false positives and wrong remediations.
• Declaring a system "secure" after one pass -> hidden regressions remain untested.

Security & Privacy

Data that leaves your machine:
- None by default from this skill itself.

Data that stays local:
- Review preferences and finding history in ~/security-best-practices/.
- Exception rationale in local memory files only.

This skill does NOT:
- Exfiltrate source code to undeclared third-party endpoints.
- Mark unresolved risks as fixed.
- Perform hidden destructive changes.

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:
- auth - Authentication design and hardening.
- authorization - Access control and permission boundaries.
- encryption - Key management and cryptographic hygiene.
- firewall - Network exposure review and policy controls.
- devops - Secure delivery, CI checks, and operational safeguards.

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star security-best-practices
• Stay updated: clawhub sync