Model Context Protocol (MCP) at First Glance: Studying the Security and Maintainability of MCP Servers

Abstract

Although Foundation Models (FMs), such as GPT-4, are increasingly used in domains like finance and software engineering, reliance on textual interfaces limits these models' real-world interaction. To address this, FM providers introduced a tool called -- triggering a proliferation of frameworks with distinct tool interfaces. In late 2024, Anthropic introduced the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to standardize this tool ecosystem. MCP is rapidly emerging as a de facto industry standard. Despite its adoption, MCP's AI-driven, non-deterministic control flow introduces new risks to sustainability, security, and maintainability, warranting closer examination. Towards this end, we present the first large-scale empirical study of MCP. Using state-of-the-art health metrics and a hybrid analysis pipeline that combines a general-purpose static analysis tool with an MCP-specific scanner, we evaluate 1,899 open-source MCP servers to assess their health, security, and maintainability. Despite MCP servers demonstrating strong health metrics, we identify eight distinct vulnerabilities -- only three of which overlap with traditional software vulnerabilities. Additionally, 7.2% of servers contain general vulnerabilities, and 5.5% exhibit MCP-specific tool poisoning. Regarding maintainability, while 66% exhibit code smells, 14.4% contain ten bug patterns overlapping prior research. These findings highlight the need for MCP-specific vulnerability detection techniques while reaffirming the value of traditional analysis and refactoring practices. Furthermore, we advocate for stronger governance across the MCP ecosystem by incorporating MCP-specific vulnerabilities into standardized vulnerability databases, enabling automated security scanning within MCP registries, and promoting responsible development practices to ensure the long-term safety and sustainability of the MCP ecosystem.