| name | deduplicate-security-issue |
| description | Merge two <tracker> tracking issues that describe the same
root-cause vulnerability (typically discovered independently by two
reporters, arriving via different channels), preserving every
reporter's credit, every mailing-list thread reference, and every
independent attack-vector description. Updates the kept issue's body
in place, closes the duplicate with the `duplicate` label, and
regenerates the CVE JSON attachment so both finders land in
`credits[]`.
|
| when_to_use | Invoke when a security team member says "dedupe #NNN and #MMM",
"merge #MMM into #NNN", "#MMM is a duplicate of #NNN", or when the
import-security-issue skill's Step 2a surfaces a STRONG match (GHSA
ID collision) between a new report and an existing tracker. Also
appropriate as a periodic cleanup action when a triager spots two
open trackers describing the same bug from different angles.
|
deduplicate-security-issue
Merges two <tracker> tracking issues that describe the
same underlying vulnerability. The output is a single tracker
("the kept issue") that carries every reporter's credit, every
mailing-list thread, and every independent report's body, with the
other tracker ("the dropped issue") closed and labelled
duplicate.
This is one of the few places in the security workflow where a
piece of reporter-supplied content (the dropped issue's body) moves
from one tracker to another. Since the target tracker is private to
<tracker>, no confidentiality boundary is crossed, but
the skill must still preserve every reporter's credit verbatim and
surface the merge in a status comment on both trackers so the audit
trail stays complete.
Golden rule — propose before applying. Every merge is a
proposal: the skill computes the merged body, the two status
comments, the label/close-issue actions, and the CVE-JSON regen
command, and shows all of them to the user. Nothing is applied
until the user confirms. There is no fast-path.
Golden rule — never merge across scopes. Two trackers with
different scope labels (airflow vs. providers, airflow
vs. chart, etc.) must not be merged. If an external reporter
rediscovers the same bug in two different products' surfaces, that
is a multi-scope report and the resolution is a
scope split handled by the sync-security-issue skill, not a
dedupe. This skill refuses to operate when the two candidate
trackers have different scope labels, and the proposal says so
explicitly.
Inputs
| Selector | Resolves to |
|---|
dedupe #<keep> <drop> | merge the <drop> tracker into <keep>; <keep> stays open, <drop> closes as duplicate |
dedupe <keep> <drop> | same, without the # |
dedupe #NNN (single argument) | ambiguous — ask the user which one is kept; do not guess |
Picking which is kept vs. dropped is a user decision; the skill
does not auto-pick. Practical guidance to offer when asked:
- If one tracker has a CVE allocated and the other does not,
keep the one with the CVE (preserves the allocation).
- If one tracker is older, keep the older one (preserves the
audit-trail timestamp).
- If one tracker has richer body content (more attack vectors,
CVSS scoring, PoC code), merge into the one with the CVE but
keep all the rich content via the "Second independent report"
section described in Step 3 below.
Prerequisites
gh CLI authenticated with collaborator access to
<tracker> — the skill reads both trackers, edits
the kept tracker's body, closes the dropped tracker, and adds
/ removes labels.
uv installed — the Step 5 CVE-JSON regeneration is a
uv run call.
See
Prerequisites for running the agent skills
in README.md.
Step 0 — Pre-flight check
gh api repos/<tracker> --jq .name returns
<tracker>.
- Both issue numbers resolve —
gh issue view <kept> --repo <tracker> --json number
and the same for <dropped> — before any write.
uv --version returns.
If any check fails, stop. A partial dedup (body merged but
dropped tracker left open, or CVE JSON not regenerated) is worse
than no dedup.
Step 1 — Fetch and classify both trackers
gh issue view <keep> --repo <tracker> --json number,title,state,body,labels,milestone,assignees,author,comments
gh issue view <drop> --repo <tracker> --json number,title,state,body,labels,milestone,assignees,author,comments
Verify:
- Both trackers are in state
open (merging into or out of a closed
tracker is almost always a mistake; surface as a blocker if
either side is already closed and ask the user to confirm).
- Both have the same scope label —
airflow vs. airflow,
or providers vs. providers, or chart vs. chart. If the
scope labels differ, refuse the merge and tell the user this is
a multi-scope report to be handled by sync-security-issue's
scope-split flow instead.
- Neither tracker is already labelled
duplicate (that would
indicate a partial-merge already happened and someone left it
half-done; surface as a blocker and let the user decide how to
recover).
Step 2 — Extract the per-field values from both
For each tracker, extract the template fields:
- The issue description — typically the reporter's full message.
In older trackers the field may not have an explicit heading
(everything above "Short public summary for publish" is the
description by convention).
- Short public summary for publish
- Affected versions
- Security mailing list thread
- Public advisory URL
- Reporter credited as
- PR with the fix
- CWE
- Severity
- CVE tool link
Also capture:
- Each tracker's labels (scope,
cve allocated, pr *,
announced - emails sent, etc.).
- Each tracker's milestone (Airflow version / Providers wave /
Chart version).
- Each tracker's assignees.
- Whether each tracker has a CVE JSON attachment comment (from
generate-cve-json --attach) — only the kept side's attachment
will be regenerated in Step 5.
Step 3 — Build the merged body proposal
The output is a single body that preserves both reporters' content
verbatim. The body-field schema (role names, empty-field convention,
body-field-surgery pattern) is documented in
tools/github/issue-template.md;
the concrete field names for the adopting project live in
<project-config>/project.md.
Structure:
### The issue description
<keep.issue_description verbatim>
---
**Second independent report: [<tracker>#<drop>](https://github.com/<tracker>/issues/<drop>) — merged on <YYYY-MM-DD>.** <one-sentence headline: same root-cause bug, different attack vector / affected process.>
<details>
<summary>Full report from <drop.reporter> (click to expand)</summary>
<one-paragraph summary of WHY the two reports are the same root-cause
bug — same function, same file, same allowlist fix — but describe
different attack vectors / affected /
' ,
;
< >
():
():
(one line per reporter; keep them in chronological order of the
original report, earliest first)
### Public advisory URL
<keep's value; normally _No response_ at the time of merge>
### Reporter credited as
<keep.credit line verbatim>
<drop.credit line verbatim>
(one line per credit; preserve the exact form each reporter
confirmed, or the placeholder form when unconfirmed; the merge
does not silently re-synthesize credits)
### PR with the fix
<keep's value, or merge if both are populated>
### CWE
<the more specific of the two values; if they disagree on the
primary CWE, surface the disagreement as a blocker for the
triager rather than silently picking one>
### Severity
<keep's value; do NOT propagate a reporter-supplied CVSS from the
dropped tracker into the kept tracker's Severity field — the
independent-scoring rule in AGENTS.md applies to merged content
the same way it applies to a single reporter's content>
### CVE tool link
<keep's value>
The Second independent report block is the load-bearing part of
the merge. It lets every future triager read both reports in one
place without having to chase the closed duplicate's content.
Append the drop side's body verbatim inside the <details>
disclosure — preserve the reporter's wording, code blocks, and PoC
text. Do not paraphrase; paraphrasing a security report is how
credits get subtly wrong before publication. The short headline that
stays visible at the top of the <details> block is a one-sentence
summary for scroll-readers; clicking expands to the full verbatim
report. This is the same short-headline-over-collapsed-details
pattern the status-change comments use, applied to the body so a
long secondary report does not push every other body field below
the fold.
If the drop-side body already had a "Second independent report"
<details> block (chain-merge case — rare), nest its content
inside the new outer block (or append as a sibling sub-block) so
the chain of merges stays visible. Never flatten or rewrite earlier
merges.
Step 4 — Build the rollup-entry proposals
Two rollup-comment entries, one per tracker — not two new
top-level comments. The entries are appended to each tracker's
existing status-rollup comment (created by import-security-issue)
via the upsert recipe in
tools/github/status-rollup.md.
When either tracker does not yet carry a rollup (legacy tracker
pre-dating the convention), the upsert recipe's Step 2b creates
one and folds any pre-existing legacy bot comments in on the way.
Each entry is a single <details> block. Follow the zero-whitespace
rules from the shared spec — no leading spaces inside the block,
one blank line after <summary>…</summary>, one blank line
before </details>.
Entry appended to the kept tracker's rollup
<details><summary><YYYY-MM-DD> · @<author-handle> · Merge (kept) (from #<drop>)</summary>
**Merged [<tracker>#<drop>](https://github.com/<tracker>/issues/<drop>) into this tracker.** <one-sentence headline: same root-cause bug, different attack vector / affected process.>
- Body: <keep.reporter>'s original report preserved; <drop.reporter>'s report appended as *"Second independent report"*.
- Credits: **<keep credit>** + **<drop credit>**.
- Mailing threads: both listed.
- CVE: [<CVE-N>-<M>](https://cveprocess.apache.org/cve5/<CVE-N>-<M>) stays allocated here; [<tracker>#<drop>](...) being closed as duplicate.
**Next:** .
Full analysis of why the two reports are the same root-cause bug (same function, same file, same allowlist fix) but describe different attack vectors / affected processes / threat-model boundaries. Per-field hand-off details:
: .
: .
: .
: | kept as | BLOCKER: conflict between and — triager to resolve>.
: widened to .
CVE JSON attachment regenerated: .
Entry appended to the dropped tracker's rollup
<details><summary><YYYY-MM-DD> · @<author-handle> · Merge (dropped) (into #<keep>)</summary>
**Closing as duplicate of [<tracker>#<keep>](https://github.com/<tracker>/issues/<keep>).** <one-sentence headline.>
Full content merged into [<tracker>#<keep>](...) as *"Second independent report"*; <drop.reporter> credited alongside <keep.reporter> there.
All triage and advisory work continues on [#<keep>](...).
<one-paragraph analysis matching the kept-side details>.
Specific artifacts merged: <CVSS scoring, attack chain, PoC, remediation options, etc.>.
See [the merge entry on <tracker>#<keep>](…) for the full hand-off record.
<Reporter-notification line — >
Both entries must render every cross-issue reference as a
clickable markdown link per the Linking <tracker> issues and
PRs convention in AGENTS.md. No
six-line visible cap — the entire entry is already collapsed
inside <details>; write what the auditor needs. Do not pad.
Step 5 — Confirm with the user, then apply sequentially
Present the proposal:
- Numbered items for the body update, each status comment, the
duplicate label application on the dropped side, the
close-issue action on the dropped side, and the CVE-JSON regen
on the kept side.
- The resulting merged body rendered in full (not a diff), so the
user can proofread end to end before confirming.
Confirmation forms:
all — apply every proposed action.
1,3,5 — apply selected items only (for example, "apply body
update and status comment but don't close the duplicate yet — I
want to triple-check").
none / cancel — bail.
- Free-form edits — regenerate only the specified item and
re-confirm.
After confirmation, apply sequentially (never in parallel):
gh issue edit <keep> --body-file <tmpfile> — updated body
- Rollup-comment upsert on the kept tracker per
tools/github/status-rollup.md
— append the Merge (kept) entry (gh api -X PATCH repos/<tracker>/issues/comments/<id> --input …) or create
the rollup if none exists yet. The same step folds any legacy
bot comments on the kept tracker into the rollup first, per
the fold-legacy sub-step in
sync-security-issue.
- Rollup-comment upsert on the dropped tracker — append the
Merge (dropped) entry (same recipe; fold legacy comments
first when needed).
gh issue edit <drop> --repo <tracker> --add-label duplicate
gh issue close <drop> --repo <tracker> --reason "not planned"
(GitHub's duplicate close-reason is not exposed by gh on
all versions; not planned combined with the duplicate label
carries the same signal)
uv run --project <framework>/tools/vulnogram/generate-cve-json generate-cve-json <keep> --attach
— the Remediation developer body field is the source of truth
for remediation-developer credits (populated by the
sync-security-issue skill from the linked PR's author); no CLI
flag needed
- For each legacy bot comment folded in steps 2 / 3, delete the
original with
gh api -X DELETE repos/<tracker>/issues/comments/<id> — only after the
matching rollup PATCH succeeded.
If any step fails, stop and ask the user how to proceed — do not
guess. Partial merges are recoverable as long as the body update
(step 1) succeeded; the rest is bookkeeping on top.
Step 6 — Recap
After the apply loop, print a short recap:
- The kept tracker as a clickable
<tracker>#<keep> link with a short summary of
its new state (label set, credit list, both threads).
- The dropped tracker as a clickable link with its new closed
state.
- The regenerated CVE JSON attachment URL.
- Any blockers surfaced during the merge (CWE conflict, unconfirmed
credits, stale drafts, etc.) repeated here so the user does not
have to scroll.
Apply the <tracker> link-form self-check to the entire
recap before presenting.
Hard rules
- Never merge across scopes. Different scope labels → scope
split (via
sync-security-issue), not dedupe.
- Never re-synthesize credits. Copy each reporter's credit line
verbatim from their tracker.
- Never propagate a reporter-supplied CVSS from the dropped
tracker into the kept tracker's
Severity field. The
independent-scoring rule in AGENTS.md
applies to merged content.
- Never paraphrase a reporter's body. Paraphrasing is how
credits and vulnerability details go subtly wrong before
publication; append verbatim under the Second independent
report heading.
- Never close the wrong side. The kept issue stays open; the
dropped issue closes. Before running the
close command,
re-check the mapping one last time.
- Never delete the dropped tracker. GitHub issues are
effectively immutable audit trail; closing + labelling as
duplicate is the right ending state.
When dedupe is not appropriate
- The two trackers are in different scopes → use the scope-split
flow in
sync-security-issue instead.
- The two trackers describe the same code surface but different
bugs with different fixes (for example, two separate
allowlist gaps in the same file, each requiring its own
advisory) → leave them as separate trackers and cross-link in
comments, but do not merge.
- One tracker has already moved past Step 13 (advisory sent) — the
advisory has already gone out citing one reporter; retroactively
merging a second reporter into the sent advisory requires an
errata announcement via the missing-credits follow-up (Step 16
of the handling process), not a tracker-body merge.
References
README.md — the handling process;
duplicates are resolved here at various steps rather than at a
single numbered step.
import-security-issue —
Step 2a surfaces potential duplicates before a new tracker is
even created, so in the ideal case this skill is never needed
on a fresh import.
sync-security-issue — runs
on the kept tracker after the merge to reconcile labels /
milestone / credit-preference drafts for both reporters.
generate-cve-json —
regenerates the kept tracker's CVE JSON attachment so both
finders land in credits[].