MCPScan
MCPScan (mcpscan) is a CLI tool that discovers and audits Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers/configs and checks for security issues such as tool poisoning, credential leakage, overprivileged capability combinations, missing authentication, session hijacking indicators, SSRF vectors, RCE vectors, and supply-chain/CVE-related risks. It supports scanning stdio MCP servers (spawned via a command), scanning HTTP/SSE MCP endpoints, and optionally probing localhost for exposed HTTP MCP servers; outputs include terminal, JSON, and SARIF.
Score Breakdown
⚙ Agent Friendliness
🔒 Security
Security-relevant behavior: it performs auditing that may involve enumerating tool metadata and probing endpoints; it could also detect credential leakage patterns. The README does not document how secrets are handled in logs/reports (e.g., redaction), nor does it describe transport security requirements (TLS enforcement) because targets/URLs are provided by the user. Dependency list is small/typical for a CLI; no CVE status is provided.
⚡ Reliability
Best When
You need an automated, repeatable static/dynamic-ish inspection pass over MCP server configurations and endpoints, especially in CI where you can capture machine-readable findings (JSON/SARIF).
Avoid When
You cannot run it safely in an environment where it may spawn/inspect local MCP servers or probe network endpoints; or where you need formal verification of vulnerabilities beyond heuristic/static checks.
Use Cases
- • Pre-deployment security review of MCP servers/tools and agent configurations
- • CI/CD security scanning with SARIF output
- • Monitoring for credential leakage or dangerous capability patterns in MCP tool schemas
- • Assessing network-exposed MCP endpoints (HTTP/SSE) and local exposures
- • Supply-chain hygiene checks for MCP-related dependencies and version ranges
Not For
- • Acting as an exploit tool or penetration framework to compromise systems (it is an auditor)
- • Compliance certifications or legal security attestations
- • Coverage assurance for all MCP implementations/edge cases not included in its check set
- • Replacing secure configuration/defense-in-depth for production MCP deployments
Interface
Authentication
Authentication/authorization is not described as a product feature; the tool scans/inspects MCP servers/targets that may be unauthenticated or authenticated depending on the target. The README does not document auth flows, tokens, or required credentials for mcpscan itself.
Pricing
No pricing model described; appears to be an open-source CLI distributed under MIT.
Agent Metadata
Known Gotchas
- ⚠ Relies on local config discovery paths and may scan unintended MCP configs if --all-configs is used broadly
- ⚠ Running with --command spawns a stdio server (potential side effects depend on the spawned command/server)
- ⚠ Network probing (--network) can hit localhost ports and may require safe scanning contexts
- ⚠ Coverage depends on implemented checks and transport parsing (stdio vs HTTP/SSE); unsupported MCP server behaviors may result in incomplete findings
Alternatives
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Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-30.