---
type: risk
title: MCP Security Risks
description: Security risks include weak access control, insecure serialization, session misuse, poor approvals, weak logging, and tool poisoning.
resource: sources/CSI_MCP_SECURITY.md
tags: [mcp, security, risk, prompt-injection]
timestamp: 2026-06-30
---

# MCP Security Risks

MCP deployments can introduce new attack surfaces because agents may dynamically invoke tools and pass context across components.

## Common risks

- Missing or weak authentication and authorization
- Insecure context or data serialization
- Poor approval workflows for sensitive actions
- Token/session replay or improper token lifecycle handling
- Misconfigured tools and excessive permissions
- Poor audit logging and limited incident traceability
- Denial-of-service through malformed or recursive tool requests
- Tool poisoning and downstream prompt-injection risks

## Recommended controls

- Validate parameters against strict schemas
- Sandbox tool execution
- Separate read and write permissions
- Sign and verify sensitive messages
- Filter outputs before downstream use
- Log tool calls, parameters, identities, and result hashes

## Related concepts

- [MCP Governance Strategy](../strategies/mcp-governance-strategy.md)
- [MCP Tool Design Strategy](../strategies/mcp-tool-design-strategy.md)
