MCP Context Forge is an MCP gateway and administrative platform

Why it is Amber

• CVSS 9.8 critical
• Remotely exploitable without logging in

References

• https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/commit/2af690f894b6e35f5f21190fdab1505f023a5272
• https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/releases/tag/v1.0.2
• https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/security/advisories/GHSA-m8rv-5m6m-32ff

Original description

MCP Context Forge is an MCP gateway and administrative platform. Prior to 1.0.2, mcpgateway/config.py and .env.example ship a known JWT_SECRET_KEY, while verify_jwt_token() accepts HS256 tokens signed with that key and get_current_user() creates a platform administrator when the token subject matches PLATFORM_ADMIN_EMAIL and REQUIRE_USER_IN_DB is false. A remote unauthenticated attacker can therefore mint accepted administrator tokens without a database account. While the vulnerable signing key remains configured and the platform-admin bootstrap remains enabled, forged access survives password rotation, account deletion, and session revocation, allowing administrative disclosure, modification, and service disruption. This issue is fixed in version 1.0.2.