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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsScanning an MCP server’s advertised metadata can surface suspicious tool descriptions, risky schemas, name collisions, and unexpected changes. It cannot certify the server’s code, its dependencies, its runtime behavior, or whether its authorization is sound. Run the scan as one step in a review that starts with provenance and privileges, and finish that review before the server gets any access to your agent.
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) project’s security guidance states that a configured server is trusted by the client, and that a local server should be evaluated like any other software installed on the machine. Choosing a server and writing its configuration are therefore trust decisions, not setup details.
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NSA’s May 20, 2026 announcement on MCP put the same concern this way: “While MCP simplifies the integration of diverse capabilities into powerful agent workflows, the current protocol specification requires careful and cautious implementation for security.” That statement is the agency’s, not a named individual’s.
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A scan reads what the server advertises to the client. That is useful, but it covers a narrow slice of the risk. The table below separates what metadata inspection can reveal from what still needs a separate review.
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| Area | What a metadata scan can reveal | What still needs separate review |
|---|---|---|
| Tool descriptions and annotations | Hidden instructions, text aimed at overriding agent behavior, description injection | Whether the code behind each tool actually does what its description says |
| Input and return schemas | Unexpectedly broad parameters, and declared shell, SQL, path, or URL handling that looks dangerous | Whether the implementation validates inputs and handles them safely |
| Tool, resource, and prompt names | Cross-server impersonation, where a name mimics another server’s tool | Who published the package and whether it is the official release |
| Metadata over time | Fingerprint drift between one review and the next | Changes to server code or behavior behind unchanged definitions |
| Dependencies and packaging | Not established by metadata inspection | Package integrity checks and dependency vulnerability scanning |
| Authorization and remote URLs | Not established by metadata inspection | OAuth metadata handling, redirects, SSRF exposure, and token scope |
| Runtime behavior | Not observed by metadata inspection | Sandboxing, egress controls, filesystem limits, and logging |
A clean scan therefore means the advertised surface looked acceptable at that moment. It does not mean the server is safe to run with production credentials.
Step 1: Establish provenance before launch
Record the server’s official source, its package or repository name, the exact version or commit, and the exact launch command. Then check for similarly named packages before installing anything, because a near-identical name is an easy way to end up running the wrong code.
Avoid floating references such as latest in production configurations. Pin a version or commit so that a later install cannot silently change what runs. OWASP’s MCP security cheat sheet recommends using trusted sources, reviewing both source and tool definitions, checking package integrity, scanning dependencies, and monitoring for changes to tool descriptions. Verify integrity information wherever the publisher provides it.
Step 2: Inspect the configuration and its privileges
For a local server that uses the stdio transport, the client starts a process. The MCP project’s security policy describes command execution over stdio as intended behavior, and that process runs with the client’s privileges. The risk therefore lies in the specific executable and what it can reach, not in the transport itself. Review these items:
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- The executable path and whether it resolves to the expected file.
- Every argument, especially any that load remote code, scripts, or configuration from elsewhere.
- Environment variables, and whether they carry tokens or keys the server does not need.
- The working directory and any files or directories mounted into the process.
- Credentials the client would pass through to the process by inheritance.
Then apply least privilege. Give each server only the credentials and permissions its task requires, keep tokens scoped to that server, and keep them out of model context. Where feasible, run the server in a sandbox or container, restrict filesystem access, limit outbound network egress, and log its activity. Google Cloud’s MCP safety guidance and Microsoft Azure’s MCP security documentation describe overlapping controls; check their current versions for platform-specific settings, since those pages change.
Step 3: Inspect every advertised primitive
Read everything the client exposes, not only the tool list. That includes each tool’s name and description, its parameter and return schemas, resources and resource templates, prompts, and any annotations. Look for:
- Instructions that try to change how the agent behaves, or directives unrelated to the tool’s stated purpose.
- Parameters that accept arbitrary commands, SQL, file paths, or URLs without constraints.
- Tool names that resemble tools from another server you already trust.
The Microsoft Agent Governance Toolkit tutorial describes mcp-scan as a local-first command-line tool. According to that tutorial, it inspects configurations and enumerates tools, resources, resource templates, and prompts across stdio, Streamable HTTP, and legacy HTTP+SSE. Its described checks cover hidden instructions, description injection, schema abuse, cross-server impersonation, and fingerprint drift. Those are the checks the tutorial documents; they are not a complete catalogue of vulnerabilities.
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Treat tool outputs as untrusted data as well. Content a tool returns can carry instructions just as a description can, so the agent should not follow it without the same scrutiny.
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Step 4: Pin reviewed definitions and require reapproval
Save a known-good record of the reviewed metadata, including tool descriptions and schemas, and compare future scans against it. Require a human to approve any meaningful change before the updated tools are enabled. Scan again after every upgrade, and investigate unexpected differences before turning tools back on.
Be precise about what this catches. Pinning detects changes to metadata. OWASP cautions that it does not detect changes to server code or behavior that sit behind unchanged definitions. Annotations are hints about a tool’s behavior, not enforced restrictions, so an approved annotation does not limit what the tool can do.
Step 5: Review remote servers and authorization flows separately
For remote servers, metadata review is not enough. Check the destination, TLS configuration, the authentication flow, the redirects the client will follow, and how the client fetches OAuth metadata.
The MCP security guidance describes server-controlled metadata that could push a client to request private addresses, localhost services, link-local cloud metadata endpoints, or redirect targets. It recommends HTTPS for production OAuth URLs and blocking private and reserved IP ranges, with the exact policy set according to your environment.
For local authorization URLs, validate the scheme and the URL itself, reject dangerous schemes, sanitize server-provided URLs, and avoid opening them through a shell. Each of these prevents a server-supplied string from being treated as a command or as a request to an internal address.
Quick Recap
When to hold a server back
- The official source, package name, or version cannot be matched to what you intended to install.
- A tool description contains instructions unrelated to what the tool does.
- A parameter accepts raw shell, SQL, path, or URL input with no constraints, and the server does not need that breadth.
- The metadata has changed since your last approved record.
- A remote server depends on OAuth metadata URLs you cannot validate or that resolve to private or reserved addresses.
- The server needs credentials wider than the single task you intend it to perform.
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