SECURITY / Trail of Bits
Trail of Bits Differential Security Review
Reviews security-relevant changes against their baseline, removed protections, callers and concrete attacker scenarios.
“Performs security-focused differential review of code changes. Adapts analysis depth to codebase size, uses git blame for context, calculates blast radius by counting callers, checks”
01 / THE REASONING
Why this made the selection.
- Uses git history to ask why a removed check existed and whether a previous fix is being undone.
- Requires findings tied to lines and commits and a saved report with stated coverage limits.
02 / THE REVIEW RECORD
What we actually inspected.
Source review has boundaries.
A clear record is more useful than a “safe” badge.
Material inspected
- plugins/differential-review/skills/differential-review/SKILL.md
- plugins/differential-review/skills/differential-review/methodology.md
- plugins/differential-review/skills/differential-review/reporting.md
- plugins/differential-review/agents/adversarial-modeler.md
- LICENSE
Our findings
- The inspected methodology connects baseline inspection, changed-code review, test evidence and transitive effects.
- High-risk work can use the plugin’s namespaced adversarial-modeler agent, which needs the full plugin.
- The reporting guide asks for exploit prerequisites, impact and evidence rather than a bare severity label.
Not established by this review
- Source inspection only; no skill installation or workflow execution was performed.
The review applies to the material and revision named here. A newer upstream release can change its behavior.
03 / PUT IT TO WORK
Add a skill to your workflow.
- Install the complete differential-review plugin, including its agents, workflows and references.
- Claude Code: add the trailofbits/skills marketplace with /plugin marketplace add trailofbits/skills, then select the plugin in /plugin menu.
- The publisher also documents Codex marketplace compatibility; confirm the required workflow and delegation capabilities in the chosen host.
Before you start
- A supported Claude Code or Codex plugin host
- Permission for the plugin’s repository reads, outputs and any requested test commands
- A baseline revision and an appropriate clean or isolated working tree
04 / FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
The source trail.
Our notes are separate from the original resource.
Check upstream before adopting a new version.
https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/123037ec8aed26f0d86327cc39137ee5043e5deb/plugins/differential-review/skills/differential-review/SKILL.md
Supports: summary, upstreamDescription, whySelected, bestFor, limitations, review, compatibility, access
https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/123037ec8aed26f0d86327cc39137ee5043e5deb/plugins/differential-review/skills/differential-review/methodology.md
Supports: review, limitations, access
https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/123037ec8aed26f0d86327cc39137ee5043e5deb/plugins/differential-review/skills/differential-review/reporting.md
Supports: review, limitations, access
https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/123037ec8aed26f0d86327cc39137ee5043e5deb/plugins/differential-review/agents/adversarial-modeler.md
Supports: review, limitations, access
https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/123037ec8aed26f0d86327cc39137ee5043e5deb/LICENSE
Supports: license
https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/123037ec8aed26f0d86327cc39137ee5043e5deb/README.md
Supports: install, compatibility, access
https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills/blob/7407f3893ad4dceab546ac002c3ef806e4000c73/README.md
Supports: install