Awesome MCP Security

A curation of awesome resources, papers, and tools focused on Model Context Protocol (MCP) security.

Contributions are always welcome. Please read the Contribution Guidelines before contributing.

Table of Contents

• Awesome MCP Security
  • Table of Contents
  • Papers
  • Security Vulnerabilities
  • Tools
  • Articles and Blog Posts
  • Other Awesome Projects
  • Other Useful Resources

Papers

• "Model Context Protocol (MCP): Landscape, Security Threats, and Future Research Directions", 2025-03, paper
• "MCP Safety Audit: LLMs with the Model Context Protocol Allow Major Security Exploits", 2025-04, paper
• "Enterprise-Grade Security for the Model Context Protocol (MCP): Frameworks and Mitigation Strategies",2025-04, paper

Security Vulnerabilities

Authentication and Authorization

• OAuth Token Theft: MCP servers store authentication tokens for various services, creating a high-value target for attackers (Pillar Security)
• Permission Boundary Problems: Unclear boundaries between services connected through MCP (Block InfoSec)

Prompt Injection

• Tool Description Manipulation: Hidden instructions in tool descriptions can cause AI models to perform unauthorized actions (Pillar Security)
• Indirect Prompt Injection: Malicious content embedded in processed documents that trigger MCP actions (Pillar Security)

Supply Chain

• Installer Risks: MCP server installers without proper validation can introduce security risks (arxiv:2503.23278)
• Tool Name Conflicts: Naming collisions in MCP tools can lead to confusion and security issues (arxiv:2503.23278)

Tools

• MCP Specification - Official MCP specification with security recommendations
• Glama.ai MCP Server Directory - Security-aware directory of MCP servers with security scoring
• Damn Vulnerable MCP Server - A server intentionally designed with flaws for security testing and training.
• MCP-scan - Security scanning tool designed to go over your installed MCP servers and check them for common security vulnerabilities like prompt injections, tool poisoning and cross-origin escalations.
• ToolHive - Lightweight utility designed to simplify the deployment and management of MCP servers, ensuring ease of use, consistency, and security.
• MCP-Shield - Scans your installed MCP servers and detects vulnerabilities like tool poisoning attacks, exfiltration channels and cross-origin escalations.
• mcp-injection-experiments - MCP Tool Poisoning Experiments
• MCP Guardian - Manages your LLM assistant's access to MCP servers, handing you realtime control of your LLM's activity.

Articles and Blog Posts -

• The Security Risks of Model Context Protocol (MCP) - Analysis of OAuth token theft and prompt injection risks
• Securing the Model Context Protocol - Best practices for MCP security by Block's InfoSec team
• How to Determine If An MCP Server Is Safe - Guidelines for evaluating MCP server security
• AI Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Security - Comprehensive guide by Omar Santos covering MCP security architecture, authentication best practices, data security, and tool exposure security considerations
• AI agent identity: it's just OAuth - Discussion about Authentication for AI Agents. Mentions OAuth Fails for MCP based AI Agents.
• Model Context Protocol has prompt injection security problems - As more people start hacking around with implementations of MCP (the Model Context Protocol, a new standard for making tools available to LLM-powered systems) the security implications of tools built on that protocol are starting to come into focus.
• The hidden security threats of MCP—and how to mitigate them - Some of the biggest security threats to consider and how you can address them.

Other Awesome Projects

• Awesome LLM Security - A curated list focused on LLM security more broadly
• Model Context Protocol - Official MCP GitHub organization with specification and reference implementations

Other Useful Resources

• tl;dr sec #272 - Newsletter discussing AI Model Context Protocol Security
• tl;dr sec #273 - Newsletter covering MCP security tools and threats