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Constant Time Testing

Checked
trailofbits·vlatest·testing·CC-BY-SA-4.0

Rapidly assesses code changes for regressions and vulnerabilities using pre-defined, consistently fast test suites.

Repository

Install on your platform

Showing Claude Code. One command installs this skill into any of the agents below.

  1. 1

    Run this in your project

    terminal
    $ npx skills add trailofbits/skills --skill constant-time-testing -a claude-code

  2. Uses the open-source skills CLI and needs Node.js. Add -g to install it for your user instead of this project.

What we know about this skill

Publisher

trailofbits

Taken from the source listing. We haven't verified who controls this account.

Install target

Live repository

Not pinned. Installing fetches whatever the repository holds at the time you run the command.

No human has reviewed this code. The checks below are a static scan of the files at one commit — nobody has run this skill or judged whether it works. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent, so read the source before you install it.

Automated safety checks

scanned

This skill passed all 6 checks. We read its files at one commit and looked for the things that make a skill dangerous to run — not for whether it works.

  • Declares what it does: passed

    SKILL.md parses and declares a name and a description.

    SKILL.md exists, its frontmatter parses, and it declares a name and a description.

  • No undeclared network calls: passed

    Makes no network calls.

    Every host the skill dials — from its scripts, its config endpoints or the commands it tells the agent to run — is either well-known package and API infrastructure or declared in its own frontmatter. Links in documentation are not counted.

  • No obfuscated payloads: passed

    No encoded or obfuscated payloads.

    No base64, hex or compressed blob is decoded and then executed, and no encoded shell commands.

  • No credential access: passed

    Reads no keys, tokens, keychains or credential files.

    Neither the code nor the SKILL.md instructions read SSH keys, cloud credentials, keychains, token stores, browser cookie databases or dotfiles that hold secrets.

  • No pipe-to-shell installers: passed

    No pipe-to-shell or download-and-run installers.

    No `curl … | sh` pattern, in the code or in the instructions, that runs code fetched at run time.

  • Pinned to a commit: passed

    Scanned trailofbits/skills at 82fe822625.

    The exact upstream commit SHA that was scanned is recorded, so the result refers to specific bytes.

Commit
82fe822625
Manifest
plugins/testing-handbook-skills/skills/constant-time-testing/SKILL.md
Scanned
2 files, 495 lines
This is a static scan, not a review. It reads the skill's files; it does not run them, and it cannot tell you whether the skill is any good or whether the code does what its description says. A skill runs with whatever access you give your agent.
What each check looks for →

About this skill

What it does

The constant-time-testing skill enables AI agents to perform security testing in a way that avoids timing side-channel vulnerabilities. It ensures that operations take the same amount of time regardless of input, preventing attackers from inferring sensitive data based on execution time.

When to use it

  • Testing cryptographic functions where timing leaks could expose secrets like encryption keys.
  • Validating secure implementations of algorithms such as password hashing or authentication checks.
  • Ensuring compliance with security standards that require constant-time behavior in critical operations.

Key capabilities

  • Detects timing-based side-channel vulnerabilities.
  • Enforces consistent execution time for sensitive operations.
  • Integrates with testing frameworks to validate constant-time properties during development.

Example prompts

  • "Test the password verification function for constant-time behavior."
  • "Analyze this cryptographic algorithm to ensure it runs in constant time across all inputs."
  • "Verify that the authentication routine does not leak information through timing differences."

Tips & gotchas

  • This skill requires a deep understanding of low-level code and may need integration with profiling or instrumentation tools.
  • Some algorithms are inherently difficult to implement in constant time, so manual review is still essential alongside automated checks.