MCP Gateway: Authority-injection and JWT/session bypass via the unauthenticated router…
Key facts
- Attack vector
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- Privileges required
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- User interaction
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- Attack complexity
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- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
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- Fix status
- Fixed
No CVSS vector from any source. Fix status from GitHub. Impact type from CWE-287.
Summary
## Summary The MCP router (ext_proc) exposes an `initialize`-method code path that, when a request carries an `mcp-init-host` header, bypasses the gateway JWT session validator and rewrites the upstream `:authority` header to whatever the caller chooses, gated only by a single shared header value (`router-key`). The shared value is * a literal string (`secret-api-key`) baked into `cmd/mcp-broker-router/main.go` as a fall-back default, and * in controller-managed deployments, a SHA-256 truncation of the `MCPGatewayExtension` UID — a non-secret value visible to anyone with `get` permission on the resource, and additionally exposed in `argv` because it is passed to the broker-router container via `--mcp-router-key=...`. A request that satisfies the trivial header check is forwarded to any backend listener registered with the gateway (including external services such as `api.githubcopilot.com` when configured), bypassing both the broker (where the signed `x-mcp-authorized` capability filter is enforced) and the gateway's JWT-based session model.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | github.com/Kuadrant/mcp-gateway (Go) | before 0.7.0 | 0.7.0 | Patch available | GHSA-g53w-w6mj-hrpp |
- github.com/Kuadrant/mcp-gateway (Go) Vendor— Affected before 0.7.0 Fixed in 0.7.0 Patch available GHSA-g53w-w6mj-hrpp
Remediation
- Fix · GHSA-g53w-w6mj-hrpp github.com/Kuadrant/mcp-gateway (Go) Fixed in 0.7.0 Advisory →
Timeline
- 2026-10-03 Threatist record created from GHSA-g53w-w6mj-hrpp
References
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences