What are the best practices for MCP security?
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<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="introduction">Introduction</h2><p>Modern applications are increasingly powered by large language models (LLMs) that don’t just generate text—they can call live APIs, query databases, and even trigger automated workflows. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) makes this possible by standardizing how LLMs interface with external tools, turning your AI assistant into a fully programmable agent.</p><p>With great power, however, comes greater risk. Every time your MCP server reaches out—to GitHub for issues, to AWS for temporary credentials, or to your own CI/CD pipeline—it carries sensitive secrets and deep system access. A single misconfiguration or leaked token could let an attacker pivot from your demo environment all the way into production.</p><p>In this post, you’ll learn:</p><div class="code-block code-block-12 ai-track" data-ai="WzEyLCIiLCJCbG9jayAxMiIsIiIsMV0=" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <style> .ai-rotate {position: relative;} .ai-rotate-hidden {visibility: hidden;} .ai-rotate-hidden-2 {position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback, .ai-list-block, .ai-list-block-ip, .ai-list-block-filter {visibility: hidden; position: absolute; width: 50%; height: 1px; top: -1000px; z-index: -9999; margin: 0px!important;} .ai-list-data, .ai-ip-data, .ai-filter-check, .ai-fallback {min-width: 1px;} </style> <div class="ai-rotate ai-unprocessed ai-timed-rotation ai-12-1" data-info="WyIxMi0xIiwyXQ==" style="position: relative;"> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden;" data-index="1" data-name="VGVjaHN0cm9uZyBHYW5nIFlvdXR1YmU=" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/Fojn5NFwaw8" target="_blank"><img src="https://securityboulevard.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Techstrong-Gang-Youtube-PodcastV2-770.png" alt="Techstrong Gang Youtube"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> <div class="ai-rotate-option" style="visibility: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;" data-index="1" data-name="QVdTIEh1Yg==" data-time="MTA="> <div class="custom-ad"> <div style="margin: auto; text-align: center;"><a href="https://devops.com/builder-community-hub/?ref=in-article-ad-1&utm_source=do&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=in-article-ad-1" target="_blank"><img src="https://devops.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Gradient-1.png" alt="AWS Hub"></a></div> <div class="clear-custom-ad"></div> </div></div> </div> </div><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Why MCP expands your “blast radius”</strong> of potential damage compared to standalone LLMs</li> <li><strong>Core security risks</strong> introduced by the MCP architecture and protocol</li> <li><strong>Practical, engineer-friendly tactics</strong> to lock down secrets, enforce least privilege, and detect anomalies</li> <li><strong>How to bake security into every layer</strong> of your MCP deployment, from sandboxing local binaries to designing robust incident-response plans</li> </ul><p>Let’s dive into how MCP actually works and then explore step-by-step controls you can put in place to keep your systems—and your users—safe.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="how-mcp-works-brief-recap">How MCP Works (Brief Recap)</h2><p>At its core, the Model Context Protocol (MCP) formalizes the way AI agents “call” out to external services. Instead of hard-coding one-off integrations, MCP lets you treat any API, database, or custom function as a first-class tool—complete with a standardized request/response pattern. Here’s a bird’s-eye view of the key pieces:</p><div class="code-block code-block-15" style="margin: 8px 0; clear: both;"> <script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-2091799172090865" crossorigin="anonymous" type="7fc5a69c19d25dadc91996c7-text/javascript"></script> <!-- SB In Article Ad 1 --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-2091799172090865" data-ad-slot="8723094367" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins> <script type="7fc5a69c19d25dadc91996c7-text/javascript"> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script></div><ol class="wp-block-list"> <li> <p><strong>JSON-RPC Messaging</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>MCP messages follow <a href="https://www.jsonrpc.org/specification" rel="noopener">JSON-RPC 2.0</a> conventions: each call specifies a method name, parameters, and a unique ID.</li> <li>The client and server use these messages to negotiate capabilities, invoke tools, and return results in a consistent, machine-readable format.</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>Two Transport Modes</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li> <p><strong>stdio</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>The MCP server runs as a local binary. The client launches it (e.g., via <code>npx @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem</code>) and pipes JSON-RPC over standard input and output.</li> <li>Ideal for local development and single-machine demos—no network hops, but you must trust the binary you installed.</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>HTTP + SSE</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>The MCP server listens on two HTTP endpoints: one for Server-Sent Events (SSE) to push messages to the client, and one for regular POSTs to send client requests back.</li> <li>This split-stream approach supports remote, language-agnostic deployments—perfect for multi-tenant or cloud-hosted agents.</li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>Client–Server–Tool Workflow</strong></p> <ol class="wp-block-list"> <li> <p><strong>Initialization</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Client and server exchange a “capabilities” handshake, advertising available tools, resources, and sampling controls.</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>Tool Invocation</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>The LLM emits a function-call intent (e.g., <code>{ "name": "list_github_issues", "params": {...} }</code>).</li> <li>The client wraps this as a JSON-RPC request and sends it to the MCP server.</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>Execution & Response</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>The MCP server performs the actual API call or computation using its credentials.</li> <li>The raw response is marshaled back into JSON-RPC and fed to the LLM as a “tool response,” enabling the model to continue its reasoning.</li> </ul> </li> </ol> </li> </ol><p>By standardizing tool calls and channels, MCP makes integrations more predictable—and more powerful. But unlocking that power safely requires understanding the exact mechanics under the hood, which we’ll unpack in the next section on core security risks.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="core-security-risks-in-mcp">Core Security Risks in MCP</h2><p>MCP supercharges your AI agents—but it also opens up new attack surfaces. Before we dive into defenses, let’s map out the four biggest risk categories you’ll face.</p><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="secrets-exposure">Secrets Exposure</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Hard-coded credentials</strong><br>Embedding API keys or tokens directly in code or config files means they can slip into Git history, CI logs, or even public snippets.</li> <li><strong>Long-lived tokens</strong><br>Static credentials that never expire give attackers a wide window to exploit them.</li> <li><strong>Over-broad access</strong><br>A single “root” token that can read and write everywhere is convenient—until someone drops your production database.</li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="protocol-level-attacks">Protocol-Level Attacks</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Confused-deputy vulnerabilities</strong><br>If your MCP proxy reuses a static OAuth client ID for all downstream calls, attackers can trick users’ browsers into skipping consent and harvesting authorization codes.</li> <li><strong>Token-passthrough anti-pattern</strong><br>Blindly forwarding client-provided tokens to your APIs lets malicious or mis-scoped tokens bypass critical audit, rate-limit, and validation checks.</li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="supply-chain--implementation-flaws">Supply-Chain & Implementation Flaws</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Untrusted local binaries</strong><br>Community-published MCP servers can be backdoored or poorly maintained—if you <code>npm install</code> a binary without verifying it, you’re effectively running random code on your machine.</li> <li><strong>Vulnerable server code</strong><br>Even official MCP servers might mishandle TLS, log secrets in plain text, or mis-scope filesystem mounts—exposing sensitive data or opening injection holes.</li> <li><strong>Remote server weaknesses</strong><br>Calling a JSON-RPC method over HTTP+SSE is just like hitting any REST endpoint: path traversal, SQL injection, or authorisation bugs can lurk behind those sockets.</li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="prompt-injection-threats">Prompt-Injection Threats</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Direct injection</strong><br>Malicious user input can slip handcrafted commands into your tool-invocation prompts, causing unexpected actions.</li> <li><strong>Indirect (tool-poisoning) attacks</strong><br>Attackers can sneak malicious instructions into your tool descriptions or metadata. When you include those descriptions in the LLM prompt, you hand the model a hidden backdoor.</li> <li><strong>Excessive client capabilities</strong><br>Remember that MCP clients can also expose “sampling,” “metrics,” or other hooks back to the server. Unrestricted, those features let a compromised server drive up costs or exfiltrate your prompt history.</li> </ul><p>With these risks in mind, the next sections will show you how to lock down secrets, harden your protocol flows, and sandbox every layer of your MCP deployment.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="six-secrets-management-best-practices">Six Secrets-Management Best Practices</h2><p>Treat every secret like a live grenade: handle it sparingly, store it securely, rotate it often, and never let it lie around in plain sight. Here are six concrete tactics to lock down your MCP secrets.</p><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="eliminate-hard-coding">Eliminate Hard-Coding</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Don’t check keys into Git.</strong><br>Move all credentials out of code and config files.</li> <li><strong>Use environment variables or vaults.</strong><br>Pull secrets at runtime from your environment—or better yet, from a dedicated secrets manager.</li> <li><strong>Tip:</strong> Add your <code>.env</code> (or similar) file to <code>.gitignore</code> and enforce a pre-commit hook that scans for high-entropy strings.</li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="prefer-dynamic-short-lived-credentials">Prefer Dynamic, Short-Lived Credentials</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Mint on demand.</strong><br>Tools like HashiCorp Vault, AWS STS, or the AWS Vault CLI can generate one-off tokens that expire in minutes or hours.</li> <li><strong>Self-destruct on compromise.</strong><br>If a short-lived credential leaks, its window of misuse is tiny—no more “find a year-old API key in a public repo.”</li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="enforce-least-privilege-rbac">Enforce Least-Privilege RBAC</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>One role per tool.</strong><br>Give each MCP integration its own fine-grained role or policy, scoped strictly to the permissions it needs.</li> <li><strong>Avoid “root” tokens.</strong><br>A single super-admin credential is a single point of total compromise. Break your access up into multiple, narrow scopes.</li> <li><strong>Example:</strong> A Vault policy that only allows <code>read</code> on <code>kv/data/github</code>—nothing else.</li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="ensure-end-to-end-encryption">Ensure End-to-End Encryption</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>TLS is only table stakes.</strong><br>Encrypt every hop—including internal calls between client, server, and vault.</li> <li><strong>Mutual TLS (mTLS).</strong><br>For ultra-sensitive backends (e.g., your secrets store), require both sides to present certificates before any data flows.</li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="automate-rotation--revocation">Automate Rotation & Revocation</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Build a rotation pipeline.</strong><br>Leverage vendor-supplied auto-rotation (AWS Secrets Manager) or schedule your own Lambda/cron jobs.</li> <li><strong>Test your recovery.</strong><br>Simulate lost credentials: can you revoke a token and issue a fresh one in minutes?</li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="centralize-logging--alerting">Centralize Logging & Alerting</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Audit every access.</strong><br>Funnel all secrets-manager logs into your SIEM or log-aggregation service.</li> <li><strong>Trigger on anomalies.</strong><br>Set alerts for “secret read outside business hours,” “multiple failed token requests,” or “credentials fetched by unknown host.”</li> </ul><p>By applying these six best practices, you’ll drastically shrink the window of vulnerability around your MCP server’s secrets—and make it far harder for an attacker to turn your powerful LLM integration into a catastrophe. Next up: fortifying the protocol flows themselves.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="mitigating-protocol-level-risks">Mitigating Protocol-Level Risks</h2><p>Protocol-level flaws can let attackers subvert your entire MCP workflow—so it’s critical to bake in checks and balances at the JSON-RPC and OAuth layers. Here are three targeted controls to keep your protocol safe.</p><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="break-the-confused-deputy">Break the Confused-Deputy</h3><p><strong>Problem:</strong> Reusing a single OAuth client ID for every downstream API call lets attackers piggy-back on existing consent cookies and harvest codes or tokens.<br><strong>Solution:</strong></p><ol class="wp-block-list"> <li> <p><strong>Per-Client OAuth registrations</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Dynamically register each MCP client as its own OAuth application, so consent is scoped to that client’s redirect URI.</li> <li>If your downstream authorization server doesn’t support dynamic registration, maintain a whitelist of approved redirect URIs and reject anything else.</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>Explicit re-consent</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Even with a static client ID, require interactive user approval on each new redirect URI—no silent cookie-based skips.</li> <li>Add a UUID “nonce” parameter to each consent request and validate it on callback to ensure the flow wasn’t replayed.</li> </ul> </li> </ol><pre class="wp-block-code"><code class="">GET /authorize? client_id=mcp-proxy-1234 &redirect_uri=https://app.example.com/callback &response_type=code &state=nonce-abcdef123456 </code></pre><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="avoid-token-passthrough">Avoid Token-Passthrough</h3><p><strong>Problem:</strong> Blindly forwarding upstream tokens lets mis-scoped or malicious credentials bypass your audit, rate-limit, and validation logic.<br><strong>Solution:</strong></p><ol class="wp-block-list"> <li> <p><strong>Audience validation</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>On every incoming token, verify the <code>aud</code> (audience) claim matches your MCP server’s identifier.</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>Claims inspection</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Reject tokens that lack required scopes or contain unexpected claims.</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>Token exchange</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>For third-party APIs, use the OAuth 2.0 Token Exchange spec to swap client-provided tokens for new, MCP-issued tokens you control.</li> </ul> </li> </ol><pre class="wp-block-code"><code class="">// Verify incoming token const payload = jwt.verify(token, jwksUri); if (payload.aud !== 'mcp-server.example.com') { throw new Error('Invalid token audience'); } </code></pre><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="enforce-explicit-consent-for-dynamic-clients">Enforce Explicit Consent for Dynamic Clients</h3><p><strong>Problem:</strong> Attackers can craft registration requests with malicious redirect URIs, bypassing consent under some OAuth flows.<br><strong>Solution:</strong></p><ol class="wp-block-list"> <li> <p><strong>Pre-approval registry</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Maintain a server-side store of allowed client metadata (redirect URIs, scopes). Reject any dynamic registration that isn’t pre-configured.</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>User-in-the-loop</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Before accepting a newly registered client, surface a human-readable summary of its metadata for manual approval (or present a consent screen).</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>Audit trail</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Log every dynamic registration event—who requested it, when, and with what parameters.</li> </ul> </li> </ol><p>By locking down these protocol touchpoints—confused-deputy flows, token validation, and dynamic client registration—you ensure that attackers can’t leverage subtle OAuth or JSON-RPC quirks to slip past your defenses. Next, we’ll look at how to sandbox and harden your actual MCP binaries and transports.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="hardening-your-mcp-deployment">Hardening Your MCP Deployment</h2><p>Locking down secrets and protocol flows is half the battle—your MCP binaries, transports, and runtime environment must be equally fortified. Here’s how to turn your deployment into a hardened enclave:</p><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="sandbox-local-mcp-servers">Sandbox Local MCP Servers</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Containerize or VM-isolate</strong><br>Run stdio-mode binaries inside minimal containers (e.g., Docker with a non-root user) or dedicated VMs. If a malicious or vulnerable binary tries to escape, it hits a locked-down boundary.</li> <li><strong>Filesystem restrictions</strong><br>Mount only the directories your MCP server needs—for example, <code>/tools</code> or <code>/data/input</code>—and mount everything else as read-only or omit it entirely.</li> </ul><pre class="wp-block-code"><code class=""># Example Docker snippet volumes: - type: bind source: ./mcp‐tools target: /usr/local/mcp/tools:ro - type: tmpfs target: /usr/local/mcp/tmp </code></pre><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="validate-and-freeze-tool-descriptions">Validate and Freeze Tool Descriptions</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Schema validation</strong><br>Before your client connects, verify every tool’s JSON-RPC schema against a locked-down spec. Reject any new or altered methods you haven’t explicitly reviewed.</li> <li><strong>Immutable configs</strong><br>Store approved tool lists in version control or a secured configuration service. Any out-of-band change should trigger an alert—and fail closed if unapproved.</li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="scope-network--ipc-access">Scope Network & IPC Access</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Restrict listening interfaces</strong><br>If you’re using HTTP+SSE, bind the MCP server only to localhost or a private subnet. Never expose it to the public Internet.</li> <li><strong>Use mTLS or localhost-only Unix sockets</strong><br>For intra-host IPC (stdio or HTTP), prefer Unix domain sockets with filesystem ACLs over TCP ports wherever possible.</li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="plan-for-rapid-incident-response">Plan for Rapid Incident Response</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Automated key revocation</strong><br>Embed a “kill switch” in your deployment pipeline that revokes all active secrets (e.g., Vault roles or AWS IAM tokens) with a single CLI command.</li> <li><strong>Playbooks and drills</strong><br>Maintain a runbook describing how to:<br>// revoke compromised credentials<br>// spin up clean MCP servers from known-good images<br>// rotate certificates and TLS keys<br>Conduct quarterly tabletop exercises to validate your team can execute these steps under pressure.</li> </ul><p>By isolating MCP binaries, locking down capabilities, and rehearsing your response, you’ll ensure that even if an attacker finds a foothold, they remain contained—and you retain the initiative to cut them off before real damage occurs. Next up: leveraging your organization’s existing security hygiene to create a unified defense-in-depth.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="leveraging-established-security-hygiene">Leveraging Established Security Hygiene</h2><p>Beyond MCP-specific controls, your existing security foundation is your first line of defense. By extending proven hygiene practices to your MCP ecosystem, you create a consistent, defense-in-depth posture.</p><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="secure-coding--dependency-management">Secure Coding & Dependency Management</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li> <p><strong>OWASP Top 10 & LLM Risks</strong><br>Treat MCP clients and servers like any other application: validate inputs, sanitize outputs, and guard against injection attacks—both traditional (SQL, path traversal) and prompt-based.</p> </li> <li> <p><strong>Static Analysis & SCA</strong><br>Run linters, SAST tools, and software-composition analysis on your MCP code and dependencies. Block builds if high-severity issues are found.</p> </li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="server-hardening--patch-management">Server Hardening & Patch Management</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li> <p><strong>Minimize Attack Surface</strong><br>Disable unused services on MCP hosts (SSH, unused daemons) and remove unnecessary packages.</p> </li> <li> <p><strong>Automated Patching</strong><br>Subscribe to security updates for your OS and runtime (Node.js, Python, etc.). Use tools like Dependabot or OS-level patch managers to keep libraries and system packages current.</p> </li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="zero-trust-network--identity-controls">Zero-Trust Network & Identity Controls</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Micro-segmentation</strong><br>Isolate MCP components (clients, servers, vaults) into separate network zones or Kubernetes namespaces. Enforce least-privilege via network policies or security groups.</li> <li><strong>Strong Authentication</strong><br>Integrate your MCP servers with a central identity provider (Azure AD, Okta) for SSH, API access, and admin consoles. Enforce MFA for any privileged action.</li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="continuous-monitoring--anomaly-detection">Continuous Monitoring & Anomaly Detection</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li> <p><strong>Centralized Logging</strong><br>Ship MCP client and server logs, plus JSON-RPC audit trails, to your SIEM. Correlate MCP events with broader system logs to spot suspicious patterns.</p> </li> <li> <p><strong>Behavioral Alerts</strong><br>Configure alerts for unusual MCP activity:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Sudden spikes in tool-invocation volume</li> <li>Access from unexpected hosts or IP ranges</li> <li>Tool calls outside normal operational hours</li> </ul> </li> </ul><h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="incident-response-integration">Incident Response Integration</h3><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><strong>Unified Playbooks</strong><br>Incorporate MCP-specific scenarios into your enterprise incident-response plans. Ensure responders know how to isolate MCP servers, revoke roles, and rebuild clean environments.</li> <li><strong>Post-Incident Reviews</strong><br>After any security event—real or simulated—conduct a root-cause analysis and update both your MCP configurations and broader security policies to prevent recurrence.</li> </ul><p>By weaving MCP components into your organization’s mature security processes, you gain the benefits of scale, consistency, and cumulative expertise—so MCP isn’t an outlier, but another well-governed part of your stack. Next, we’ll wrap up with a concise checklist and next steps.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="conclusion--next-steps">Conclusion & Next Steps</h2><p>You’ve seen how MCP transforms your LLMs into powerful agents—and why that power demands equally powerful protections. Let’s wrap up:</p><p><strong>Key Takeaways</strong></p><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>MCP’s JSON-RPC flows and dual transports unlock flexible tool integrations—but expand your attack surface.</li> <li>Secrets exposure, protocol quirks, supply-chain flaws, and prompt injections are real risks if left unchecked.</li> <li>A layered defense—secrets hygiene, protocol hardening, sandboxed deployments, and mature security processes—keeps your environment safe even when individual controls fail.</li> </ul><p><strong>Actionable Checklist</strong></p><ol class="wp-block-list"> <li> <p><strong>Secrets Management</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Remove all hard-coded keys; centralize in a vault.</li> <li>Switch to dynamic, short-lived credentials.</li> <li>Implement per-tool RBAC and automated rotation.</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>Protocol Defenses</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Register each MCP client separately or enforce re-consent.</li> <li>Validate token audiences; ban passthrough.</li> <li>Require manual approval for dynamic client registrations.</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>Deployment Hardening</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Containerize stdio binaries; restrict filesystem and network.</li> <li>Freeze and validate tool schemas before each run.</li> <li>Prepare incident-response playbooks and “kill switches.”</li> </ul> </li> <li> <p><strong>Organizational Hygiene</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Extend OWASP/LLM-risk testing to MCP code.</li> <li>Automate patching and dependency scans.</li> <li>Feed MCP logs into your SIEM and set anomaly alerts.</li> </ul> </li> </ol><p><strong>Next Steps & Further Reading</strong></p><ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Dive deeper into OAuth best practices with RFC 8705 (OAuth Token Exchange).</li> <li>Explore the <a href="https://modelcontextprotocol.io/" rel="noopener">MCP spec</a> for the latest security updates.</li> <li>Check out Anthropic’s “Introducing the Model Context Protocol” blog for foundational context.</li> <li>Consider sandbox frameworks (e.g., gVisor or Firecracker) for untrusted binaries.</li> </ul><p>By treating MCP security as a first-class concern—rather than an afterthought—you’ll empower your AI agents to do more, with far less risk. Lock down your protocols today, and sleep easier tomorrow.</p><div class="spu-placeholder" style="display:none"></div><p class="syndicated-attribution">*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from <a href="https://ssojet.com/blog">SSOJet</a> authored by <a href="https://securityboulevard.com/author/0/" title="Read other posts by Govardhan Sisodia">Govardhan Sisodia</a>. Read the original post at: <a href="https://ssojet.com/blog/what-are-the-best-practices-for-mcp-security/">https://ssojet.com/blog/what-are-the-best-practices-for-mcp-security/</a> </p>