{"id":"CVE-2026-53709","aliases":["EUVD-2026-98769","GHSA-m8rv-5m6m-32ff"],"status":"published","title":"MCP Context Forge: Hardcoded default JWT_SECRET_KEY shipped in source and .env.example enables pre-authentication platform admin token forgery","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.","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-09","score":0.00603,"percentile":0.49157,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":false,"fix_available":false},"cwes":["CWE-1188","CWE-287","CWE-321","CWE-798"],"published":"2026-10-13T14:32:12Z","modified":"2026-11-04T02:48:04Z","products":[{"vendor":"ibm","product":"mcp-context-forge"}],"references":[{"url":"https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/security/advisories/GHSA-m8rv-5m6m-32ff","tags":["x_refsource_CONFIRM","advisory"]},{"url":"https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/commit/2af690f894b6e35f5f21190fdab1505f023a5272","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","fix"]},{"url":"https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/releases/tag/v1.0.2","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","web"]},{"url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/53xxx/CVE-2026-53709.json","tags":["advisory"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53709","tags":["advisory"]}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2026-53709","title":"MCP Context Forge: Hardcoded default JWT_SECRET_KEY shipped in source and .env.example enables pre-authentication platform admin token forgery","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.","status":"published","published":"2026-10-13T14:32:12.137Z","modified":"2026-10-16T21:59:50.97Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical","assessor":"cna"}],"cwes":["CWE-287","CWE-321","CWE-798","CWE-1188"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:19:59.761005Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2026-98769","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.","status":"published","published":"2026-10-13T14:32:12Z","modified":"2026-10-16T21:59:50Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T17:00:01.37578Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2026-53709","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.","status":"published","published":"2026-10-13T15:17:44.873Z","modified":"2026-10-16T22:17:23.737Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical","assessor":"secondary"}],"cwes":["CWE-287","CWE-321","CWE-798","CWE-1188"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:12:57.132005Z"}],"osv":[{"id":"CVE-2026-53709","title":"MCP Context Forge: Hardcoded default JWT_SECRET_KEY shipped in source and .env.example enables pre-authentication platform admin token forgery","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.","status":"published","published":"2026-10-13T14:32:12.137Z","modified":"2026-11-06T10:46:27.671625757Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"critical"}],"cwes":["CWE-1188","CWE-287","CWE-321","CWE-798"],"updated_at":"2026-11-06T11:08:57.800854Z"}]}}