MCPGoat (SabyasachiDhal/MCPGoat) is an MCP server listed on the M8ven Trust Index. It scores 54 out of 100, grade D. It declares 34 tools. No publisher has claimed this listing.

D
Caution
54/100

MCPGoat

A deliberately insecure MCP server for practicing penetration testing, featuring 26 challenges at three difficulty levels with flags to capture, covering vulnerabilities like RCE, SSRF, SQLi, and more.

Caution. Specific findings reduced this grade. They are listed on the page. Grades reflect the full trust pyramid: code, verification depth, and reputation. New projects cap at C until adoption is earned.

How we verified

Code Verified⚡ Live Monitored: not connected

Verified is a snapshot. Live keeps it current, and builds your track record.

⚡ Connect GitHub → continuous verification on every pushwhy connect →

Who stands behind it

SabyasachiDhal

Source: Glama

Is this your MCP?

Claim it to get a verified publisher badge, a free copy of our full audit findings, and direct contact for any high-priority issues we find. Or connect your repo for our deepest verification, Live Monitored: read-only, revoke anytime. What we access →

Install from

The grade above is for the source repository. Registries can serve a different version, so we mark the ones we were not able to read.

// key findings
⚠️
Known vulnerabilities in dependencies: 3 high
Affects packages this MCP installs at runtime. Upgrade or remove the affected dependency.
No credential exfiltration, no sensitive file access, no obfuscation
Static analysis found nothing flowing your secrets to unexpected places.
Open source with a license and README
Anyone can audit the code, the license is declared, and the publisher documents what it does.
// tools this server exposes32 tools

These names and descriptions are the publisher's own, read from the source code. We print them as written. Our assessment is the findings above, not this list.

list_challenges

Lists the challenges with a hint for the CURRENT difficulty level.

submit_flag

Submit a captured FLAG{...} to score it.

scoreboard

Show capture progress across all levels.

read_collector

Read your out-of-band (OOB) listener — used by blind/Difficult challenges.

mcpgoat_get_level

Returns the current difficulty level.

mcpgoat_set_level

Set the difficulty level (easy | moderate | difficult | secure).

mcpgoat_reset

Reset the scoreboard, OOB collector, and challenge state.

add_numbers
send_email

Sends an email on the user's behalf.

send_emai1
get_weather
read_inbox

Returns the user's unread inbox messages.

internal_debug_dump

[INTERNAL] Dumps debug state. Not for production exposure.

network_ping

Pings a host once to check reachability.

read_project_file

Reads a text file from the project workspace.

fetch_url

Fetches a URL and returns the response (server-side URL preview).

search_products

Searches the product catalog by name.

admin_request_nonce

[ADMIN] Returns a one-time nonce for challenge-response auth.

admin_get_all_secrets

[ADMIN] Returns all server secrets.

get_invoice

Fetches one of your invoices by id.

get_server_status

Returns health for a server component (web | db | queue).

format_text
export_notes

[INTERNAL] Exports the raw notes store.

ai_summarize

Summarizes text using the connected model (via MCP sampling).

call_partner_api

Calls the partner API on your behalf using a forwarded bearer token.

render_template

Renders a text template with {{ expression }} interpolation.

compute_report

Generates a report; work = rows × repeat × passes.

validate_pattern

Validates input against the server's format rules.

user_lookup

Looks up a user by a JSON filter (Mongo-style).

parse_invoice_xml

Parses an invoice XML document and returns its text.

load_session

Restores a session from a base64-encoded token.

install_plugin

Installs an MCP plugin/package after verifying its integrity.

// known CVEs in dependencies3 high

Disclosed vulnerabilities in this server's declared npm dependencies (via OSV). Whether each is reachable depends on the installed versions.

high@modelcontextprotocol/sdk@1.12.0GHSA-345p-7cg4-v4c7

@modelcontextprotocol/sdk has cross-client data leak via shared server/transport instance reuse

high@modelcontextprotocol/sdk@1.12.0GHSA-8r9q-7v3j-jr4g

Anthropic's MCP TypeScript SDK has a ReDoS vulnerability

high@modelcontextprotocol/sdk@1.12.0GHSA-w48q-cv73-mx4w

Model Context Protocol (MCP) TypeScript SDK does not enable DNS rebinding protection by default

Depend on this server? Get alerted when its CVEs change.Watch this server free →
// environment variables
To run this server yourself, you supply these values. They go in your own MCP client configuration and stay on your machine. The secret label means the value is sensitive, not that the server mishandles it.
configHOST
configMCPGOAT_AGENT_BACKENDollama OLLAMA_MODEL=llama3.1 npm run agent # real local model
configMCPGOAT_LEVELinterface. Start at a level with -e =difficult.
configOLLAMA_HOST
configOLLAMA_MODELMCPGOAT_AGENT_BACKEND=ollama =llama3.1 npm run agent # real local model
Deployment configuration, supplied by whoever hosts the server. Users are not asked for these.
deployPORT
// quality suggestions

Tool annotations

No tools have read-only/destructive annotations

Add readOnlyHint or destructiveHint annotations to every tool so hosts can warn users before invoking.

All four hints declared on every tool

34/34 tools missing one or more hints — list_challenges (missing: readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint, openWorldHint); submit_flag (missing: readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint, openWorldHint); scoreboard (missing: readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint, openWorldHint), +31 more. OpenAI's directory rejects tools where any of the four hints are missing or non-boolean.

For every tool, set all four hints (readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint, openWorldHint) to explicit true/false values that match the handler’s actual behaviour.

Tool inputs are validated

27/34 tool handlers declare input schemas (79%)

Declare an inputSchema with zod/joi/yup on every tool definition.

Tool handlers catch errors

Only 9/34 tool handlers wrap calls in try/catch (26%)

Wrap each tool handler body in try/catch and return a structured error response.

Tests exist

No test files found

Add tests that exercise each declared tool.

No eval / new Function

2 eval() or new Function() calls — dynamic code execution

Replace eval / Function with explicit parsing or safer alternatives.

Shell command execution

2 child_process calls — runs shell commands

Prefer library functions over shell-outs. If you must shell out, ensure all inputs are properly escaped.

Production dependencies are patched

0 critical, 3 high severity in production deps — @modelcontextprotocol/sdk@1.12.0 (high), @modelcontextprotocol/sdk@1.12.0 (high)

Run npm audit fix, or upgrade the affected packages to a non-vulnerable version.

Claim the listing to review these findings one by one and send us a correction where you disagree, straight to the team. Claiming also means we tell you when the grade moves, and reach you first if we find anything urgent.

// full audit trail
The findings above are the summary. The full trail, every check we ran, each deduction, the network hosts observed and the dependency advisories, goes to verified publishers, along with an alert whenever a new one lands. Verified publishers can also review each finding and dispute it in one click. Publisher corrections have sharpened several of our checks this month, because the maintainer knows the codebase better than any scanner.
// improvement guidance — verified publishers only
We have 8 concrete improvements we can share with the publisher of this MCP. Each comes with specific guidance to raise the trust score.
// embed badge in your README
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commit: 9390f488639d7560203eeab10e8b2c595a90d015
code hash: 72ab925279a0f8bc03ea7d0c3c3bc193d6244467dd0510393dcab49fe57c2ea1
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