CVE-2026-53709 PUBLISHED

MCP Context Forge: Hardcoded default JWT_SECRET_KEY shipped in source and .env.example enables pre-authentication platform admin token forgery

Assigner: GitHub_M
Reserved: 10.06.2026 Published: 13.10.2026 Updated: 13.10.2026

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.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS Score: 9.8

Product Status

Vendor IBM
Product mcp-context-forge
Versions
  • Version < 1.0.2 is affected

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-287: Improper Authentication CWE
  • CWE-321: Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key CWE
  • CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials CWE
  • CWE-1188: Insecure Default Initialization of Resource CWE