sMCP

# MCP Security Research ## Project Introduction and Phase 1 Foundation --- ### **Introduction to MCP Security Research** The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is gaining adoption across enterprises—from OpenAI to Block to major development platforms. As this protocol grows, we're seeing new security challenges that existing tools and approaches weren't designed to handle. **Our goal:** Learn about MCP security through hands-on research and collaborative experimentation, while building practical tools that can help the broader community. --- ### **The Current MCP Security Landscape** Recent security research has highlighted several categories of vulnerabilities in MCP implementations: - **CVE-2025-49596**: Critical RCE in MCP Inspector (CVSS 9.4) - browser-based attacks against developer tools - **CVE-2025-6514**: Remote command execution affecting 437,000+ downloads - **Tool Description Poisoning**: AI models manipulated by malicious instructions in tool descriptions - **RADE Attacks**: Data exfiltration via poisoned public data sources - **Confused Deputy**: OAuth credential reuse enabling unauthorized access These vulnerabilities demonstrate real security challenges in MCP implementations. The field is evolving quickly, which creates both challenges and opportunities for security research. **The opportunity:** Since MCP security is still developing, there's room to contribute meaningful research and build tools that can help address these emerging challenges. --- ### **Our Approach: Learning Through Practice** Rather than just studying existing research, we're building a practical research environment where team members can experiment with and learn from real security scenarios. #### **Core Philosophy: "Learn by Doing"** We're exploring MCP security through: 1. **Studying real attack patterns** from current research and CVEs 2. **Implementing and testing** these attacks in controlled environments 3. **Building tools and techniques** to detect and address them 4. **Sharing findings** to contribute to community knowledge 5. **Iterating based on what we learn** as new challenges emerge #### **Why This Hands-On Approach** - **Practical Understanding**: Move beyond theoretical knowledge to hands-on experience - **Immediate Feedback**: Test security tools against known vulnerabilities - **Collaborative Learning**: Everyone can contribute their perspective and skills - **Community Contribution**: Share findings that might help others - **Adaptability**: Learn and adjust as the field evolves --- ### **Phase 1: Building Our Research Foundation** Our first phase focuses on establishing the core infrastructure for ongoing research and learning. We're building a comprehensive security testing environment designed specifically for MCP security experimentation. #### **The Architecture: A Self-Contained Lab Environment** **Dual-Purpose Design:** ``` ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐ │ MCP Security Research Lab │ ├─────────────────────────────────────┤ │ OAuth Security Tools (Phase 1) │ │ • OAuth Discovery & Analysis │ │ • Configuration Assessment │ │ • Security Scoring & Reporting │ │ • Compliance Validation │ ├─────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Test Targets (Learning Side) │ │ • OAuth misconfigurations │ │ • Real CVE implementations │ │ • Safe, controlled environment │ └─────────────────────────────────────┘ ``` This setup allows us to: - **Start with OAuth security** - a well-defined area with clear security standards - **Validate our approach** against known OAuth vulnerabilities and misconfigurations - **Build extensible tools** that can be expanded to other security domains - **Learn progressively** from focused OAuth work to broader MCP security challenges - **Experiment safely** without affecting production systems #### **Phase 1 Deliverables** **Starting with OAuth Configuration Auditing:** Our initial focus is on OAuth security assessment for MCP servers - a critical area where many implementations have configuration vulnerabilities. We're building: - **OAuth Discovery Tools**: Identify OAuth endpoints and configuration patterns - **Configuration Analysis**: Assess OAuth 2.1 compliance and security best practices - **Security Scoring**: OWASP-aligned risk assessment and recommendations - **Professional Reporting**: Clear findings for both security teams and developers This OAuth auditing foundation provides: - **Immediate Value**: Addresses real-world OAuth misconfigurations in MCP deployments - **Learning Platform**: Hands-on experience with MCP security assessment methodology - **Extensible Architecture**: Clean foundation for adding additional security tools **Future Security Tool Possibilities:** As we learn from the OAuth work, we might consider expanding into other areas: - **Authentication Testing**: Explore authentication bypass techniques beyond OAuth - **Injection Testing**: Develop tools for SQL, command, path traversal, and prompt injection detection - **Protocol Analysis**: Tools for MCP protocol-specific vulnerability discovery - **Supply Chain Security**: Assessment of MCP tool descriptions and package integrity **Learning Environment:** - **OAuth-Focused Scenarios**: Different OAuth configurations from secure to vulnerable - **Real-World Examples**: OAuth misconfigurations based on actual security findings - **Progressive Complexity**: From basic setup issues to sophisticated OAuth attacks - **Safety Controls**: Complete isolation with protective mechanisms - **Documentation**: Clear explanations of OAuth vulnerabilities with detection and mitigation guidance **Collaborative Infrastructure:** - **Easy Setup**: Containerized deployment for consistent environments - **Shared Results**: Common format for comparing and discussing findings - **Version Control**: Track discoveries and improvements over time - **Knowledge Base**: Growing repository of MCP security insights --- ### **What This Means for Team Members** This project offers different pathways for contribution and learning, regardless of current security background: **For Security Professionals:** Apply existing expertise to an emerging domain while building tools the community needs. **For Developers:** Understand MCP vulnerabilities from implementation perspective, gaining insights for more secure development. **For AI/ML Engineers:** Learn how protocol-level security affects the systems you build and integrate security considerations early. **For Researchers:** Access a platform for exploring new attack vectors and defensive techniques in a developing field. #### **Learning Opportunities** - **Hands-on OAuth analysis** with security assessment tools against test configurations - **Exploration** of different OAuth vulnerabilities and defensive approaches - **Contribution** of new OAuth assessment techniques or configuration patterns you discover - **Collaboration** on tool improvements and OAuth security research directions - **Documentation** of OAuth security findings that help the team's collective understanding --- ### **Looking Ahead: Potential Future Directions** Phase 1 establishes our foundation, but there are many possible directions for expansion: - **Advanced Attack Simulation**: More sophisticated attack chains and persistence techniques - **Behavioral Analysis**: Detection of anomalous model behavior and hidden instruction execution - **Supply Chain Security**: Tools for analyzing MCP packages and tool descriptions - **Enterprise Integration**: Security testing approaches for production MCP deployments - **Community Engagement**: Contributing research findings and collaborating with other security teams #### **How We'll Measure Success** - **Learning Outcomes**: Team members developing practical MCP security skills - **Tool Effectiveness**: Our security tools successfully detecting vulnerabilities in test scenarios - **Knowledge Sharing**: Insights that contribute to broader MCP security understanding - **Community Value**: Research that others find useful and cite in their work - **Practical Application**: Techniques that prove useful in real-world scenarios --- ### **Getting Involved** This project works best as a collaborative effort where different perspectives and skill sets contribute to our collective understanding. Whether you're interested in analyzing attack patterns, implementing detection tools, testing defensive measures, or documenting findings, there are ways to contribute meaningfully. **The MCP security field is still developing. Many of the tools and best practices don't exist yet. This gives us an opportunity to contribute to the field's development rather than just learn from established practices.** Interested in joining the research? Let's explore this together. --- ## **Research Resources & Background Reading** ### **Key Vulnerabilities for Context** **CVE-2025-49596: MCP Inspector RCE (CVSS 9.4)** - [Critical RCE in Anthropic MCP Inspector](https://www.oligo.security/blog/critical-rce-vulnerability-in-anthropic-mcp-inspector-cve-2025-49596) - Technical analysis by Oligo Security - [Critical Vulnerability in Anthropic's MCP](https://thehackernews.com/2025/07/critical-vulnerability-in-anthropics.html) - Practical impact coverage - [CVE-2025-49596 Explanation](https://vulert.com/blog/mcp-inspector-vulnerability-cve-2025-49596/) - Accessible explanation **CVE-2025-6514: mcp-remote RCE (CVSS 9.6)** - [Critical mcp-remote Vulnerability](https://thehackernews.com/2025/07/critical-mcp-remote-vulnerability.html) - JFrog's research on widespread impact - [MCP Vulnerability Industry Perspective](https://sdtimes.com/mcp/jfrog-finds-mcp-related-vulnerability-highlighting-need-for-stronger-focus-on-security-in-mcp-ecosystem/) - Broader ecosystem considerations **Filesystem Sandbox Issues (CVE-2025-53109 & CVE-2025-53110)** - [EscapeRoute: MCP Filesystem Server Analysis](https://cymulate.com/blog/cve-2025-53109-53110-escaperoute-anthropic/) - Cymulate's technical research - [MCP Server Sandbox Escape](https://gbhackers.com/anthropic-mcp-server-flaw/) - Exploitation details ### **Attack Research & Patterns** **Tool Description and Prompt Injection** - [MCP Prompt Injection Analysis](https://simonwillison.net/2025/Apr/9/mcp-prompt-injection/) - Simon Willison's accessible explanation - [MCP Security Risks and Exploits](https://embracethered.com/blog/posts/2025/model-context-protocol-security-risks-and-exploits/) - Johann Rehberger's technical deep dive - [MCP Security Research](https://invariantlabs.ai/blog/the-s-in-mcp-stands-for-security) - Elena Cross's foundational work **Advanced Attack Techniques** - [MCP Security Best Practices Analysis](https://noailabs.medium.com/mcp-security-best-practices-2148b86fa2e4) - Confused deputy and RADE attack analysis - [GitHub MCP Vulnerability Example](https://cybernews.com/security/github-mcp-vulnerability-has-far-reaching-consequences/) - Real-world prompt injection case study **Comprehensive Resources** - [The Vulnerable MCP Project](https://vulnerablemcp.info/) - Database of MCP vulnerabilities and patterns - [MCP Security Analysis](https://phala.network/posts/MCP-Not-Safe-Reasons-and-Ideas) - Systemic security problems and solutions ### **Enterprise and Practical Perspectives** **Risk Assessment** - [MCP Security Risks and Controls](https://www.redhat.com/en/blog/model-context-protocol-mcp-understanding-security-risks-and-controls) - Red Hat's enterprise view - [MCP Security Industry Analysis](https://www.techzine.eu/news/security/133021/critical-vulnerability-in-mcp-highlights-need-for-better-security/) - Adoption vs. security maturity **Official Guidance** - [MCP Security Best Practices](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/draft/basic/security_best_practices) - Official security documentation ### **Suggested Reading Order** **For Initial Context (15 minutes):** 1. Simon Willison's prompt injection analysis - foundational concepts 2. The Hacker News CVE-2025-49596 coverage - concrete impact example 3. Cybernews GitHub article - practical attack scenario **For Deeper Understanding (1 hour):** 4. Embrace The Red's security analysis - technical depth with examples 5. Red Hat's enterprise perspective - business context and mitigation 6. The Vulnerable MCP Project - comprehensive threat overview This background reading provides context for why MCP security research is valuable and how our hands-on approach addresses documented challenges in current implementations. --- _For technical specifications and implementation details, see the project documentation. Questions or ideas? Reach out to the project team._