@cotal-ai/cli@0.128.5
Cotal mesh CLI: up, join, watch, console, spawn, mint, channels, history, ext.
AI Security Review
scanned 6d ago · by lpm-firewall-aiThe CLI enables regular telemetry by default and transmits pseudonymous account and usage metadata to its own service. Disclosure is incomplete for noninteractive use and does not enumerate all collected fields, so this merits a warning rather than a publish block.
Static reason
One or more suspicious static signals were detected.; previous stored version diff introduced dangerous source
Trigger
A CLI command starts when telemetry is enabled at its default regular level; events are sent as the process exits.
Impact
Cotal receives persistent pseudonymous account linkage and usage/environment details without a clear first-run disclosure in noninteractive use.
Mechanism
The CLI reads telemetry settings and cached sign-in identity, builds command and installation events, then posts them to Cotal’s telemetry endpoint. Telemetry can be disabled.
AI rationale
The CLI enables regular telemetry by default and transmits pseudonymous account and usage metadata to its own service. Disclosure is incomplete for noninteractive use and does not enumerate all collected fields, so this merits a warning rather than a publish block.
Evidence
dist/telemetry.jsdist/command.js.lpm-dependency-evidence-c9280a82-3de3-4876-8773-3aa58312b5cb/1/npm-linux/dist/telemetry.js~/.cotal/telemetry.json
Network endpoints1
cotal.ai/v1/telemetry
Decision evidence
public snapshotAI called this Suspicious at 87.0% confidence as Dangerous Capability with medium false-positive risk.
Evidence for warning
- A missing telemetry settings file is created with the level set to `regular`.
- The CLI arms telemetry when a command is recognized and sends its events on process exit.
- Regular command events include a hash derived from the cached sign-in subject, subcommand and flag names, shell and terminal details; daily install events include connector, extension, runtime and mesh information.
- The first-run disclosure is conditional on a TTY and does not list all collected fields; telemetry can be disabled.
Evidence against
- The telemetry endpoint is the package publisher’s own `https://cotal.ai/v1/telemetry` service.
- The code masks error text and stack paths, does not send argument values, and provides telemetry opt-outs.
- There is no install lifecycle script; writes to `~/.agents/skills` occur through explicit setup commands.
Behavioral surface
ChildProcessCryptoDynamicRequireEnvironmentVarsFilesystemNetworkShell
Source & flagged code
7 flaggeddist/seed/reconcile.jsView file
1import { existsSync, renameSync } from "node:fs";
L2: import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
L3: import { randomBytes } from "node:crypto";
High
Child Process
Package source references child process execution.
dist/seed/reconcile.jsView on unpkg · L1dist/lib/persona-files.jsView file
274process.on(signal, pass);
L275: const child = program ? spawn(program, [draft], { stdio: "inherit" }) : spawn(`${editor} ${quoted}`, { shell: true, stdio: "inherit" });
L276: return new Promise(resolve => {
High
dist/lib/nats-bin.jsView file
Findings
1 Critical5 High4 Medium4 Low
CriticalPrevious Version Dangerous Deltadist/telemetry.js
HighChild Processdist/seed/reconcile.js
HighShelldist/lib/persona-files.js
HighTrigger Reachable External Ai Agent Control Surface Mutationdist/lib/agent-skills.js
HighRuntime Package Installdist/commands/setup.js
HighSemantic Analysis Limiteddist/commands/ext.js
MediumDynamic Requiredist/lib/nats-bin.js
MediumNetwork
MediumEnvironment Vars
MediumStructural Risk Force Deep Review
LowScripts Present
LowFilesystem
LowHigh Entropy Strings
LowUrl Strings
Affected versions and remediation
This report applies to @cotal-ai/cli@0.128.5.
See all versions of @cotal-ai/cli for other recorded verdicts.
- Review the evidence and your use of @cotal-ai/cli@0.128.5 before allowing it. Restrict the permissions described in this report.
- Choose an independently verified alternative or release. This report does not establish that other versions are safe.
Evidence last updated: .
Think this verdict is wrong? Dispute it on GitHub or read how reports are produced.