Vulnetix Exploit Test Skill
Use when
- You just applied a fix and want to validate the exploit path no longer responds.
- Confirming a patch deployed correctly to staging before promoting to production.
- Producing a copy-pasteable test command for QA hand-off.
- Comparing pre-fix vs post-fix behaviour with the same payload.
- Building authorised proof-of-fix evidence for an audit.
Don't use for
- Unauthorised testing — the skill explicitly requires user-supplied authorised targets.
- Live attack simulation — use a dedicated red-team tooling chain.
- Generating detection rules — use
detection-rules.
Conventions
Follows skills/_lib/contract.md. In short: use the vulnetix_* MCP tools when the agent has them and the CLI otherwise — both shape their own output, so there is no jq step any more. Independent calls go out as concurrent Bash tool calls in one message. One trailing suggestion, not a playbook. See the contract for surface selection, output style and memory writes.
Builds a copy-pasteable exploit-validation command. Best used after a fix to confirm the vulnerability path no longer responds. The user runs the command — this skill does not auto-execute.
Step 1: Load capabilities
Read .vulnetix/capabilities.yaml. Specifically binaries.nuclei, binaries.curl, binaries.docker.
Step 2: Fetch exploit content
vulnetix vdb exploits "$ARGUMENTS" -o json
vulnetix vdb ai-assisted-exploits get "$ARGUMENTS" -o json
Capture: PoC URLs, Metasploit module IDs, Nuclei template IDs, AI-assisted demo scripts.
Step 3: Fetch Nuclei template (preferred when binary present)
If binaries.nuclei: true:
vulnetix vdb nuclei get "$ARGUMENTS" --format yaml > .vulnetix/exploit-test/${ARGUMENTS}.yaml
Step 4: Render commands
Pick the highest-fidelity option available. Order:
-
Nuclei + binary present:
nuclei -t .vulnetix/exploit-test/${ARGUMENTS}.yaml -u "$TARGET"
-
Metasploit module ID present and binaries.msfconsole (probe inline):
msfconsole -q -x "use <module>; set RHOSTS <target>; run; exit"
-
AI-assisted Python demo script — write to .vulnetix/exploit-test/${ARGUMENTS}.py. Suggest:
uv run --with requests .vulnetix/exploit-test/${ARGUMENTS}.py "$TARGET"
-
Curl-based PoC (last resort) — fetched from vdb exploits references.
Always include a --target placeholder if the user did not supply one. Refuse to run against any target without explicit user confirmation.
Step 5: Verdict guidance
After the user runs the command, expected outcomes:
- Pre-fix: vulnerability triggers (response shape varies by CVE — describe expected indicator)
- Post-fix: command returns benign / 404 / 400
Memory update
Append event: exploit-test-prepared with the chosen command class to the vuln entry.
Safety
- Never store credentials or tokens in
.vulnetix/exploit-test/.
- Treat any provided target as authorized testing only — surface a one-line authorization reminder.
Edge cases & gotchas
- Authorisation is the user's responsibility. The skill surfaces an authorisation reminder; the LLM must NOT proceed if the user has not named an authorised target.
- Nuclei templates are downloaded into
.vulnetix/exploit-test/<VULN_ID>.yaml. Review the template before running — some include intrusive payloads.
- Metasploit module hints reference module IDs, not module paths. Confirm the module is installed in your local msfconsole before invoking.
- AI-assisted Python demo scripts run with
uv run --with requests — the script files live in .vulnetix/exploit-test/ and should never carry secrets.
- For some CVEs no Nuclei template exists; the skill falls back to a curl-based PoC pulled from
vdb exploits references. Curl PoCs are typically least reliable.
- After running, the skill reads the user-described result and writes the verification outcome to memory — but only if the user explicitly reports back.