---
id: CVE-2026-53709
title: MCP Context Forge is an MCP gateway and administrative platform
summary: >-
  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()…
severity: critical
cvss: 9.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-287
  - CWE-321
  - CWE-798
  - CWE-1188
published: '2026-10-13'
updated: '2026-10-13'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-13T15:17:44.873'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53709'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/commit/2af690f894b6e35f5f21190fdab1505f023a5272
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: 'https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/releases/tag/v1.0.2'
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/IBM/mcp-context-forge/security/advisories/GHSA-m8rv-5m6m-32ff
    label: security-advisories@github.com
tags:
  - nvd
ingestedAt: '2026-10-13T15:33:40.078Z'
---

## Overview

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.

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.