CVE-2026-52869: CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key in modelcontextprotocol python-sdk
Description
### Summary In affected versions, the SSE and Streamable HTTP server transports routed incoming requests to an existing session based only on the session identifier, without verifying that the request was authenticated as the same principal that created the session. Anyone who learned or guessed a session ID could send JSON-RPC messages on that session, regardless of which bearer token the request carried. ### Am I affected? Only if a developer's application server uses an HTTP transport (SSE, or Streamable HTTP in stateful mode) **and** authenticates requests. Servers on stdio, stateless Streamable HTTP, or with no authentication configured are not affected. ### Details Both transports look up the target session by its identifier alone — the `session_id` query parameter for SSE (`mcp.server.sse.SseServerTransport`) and the `Mcp-Session-Id` header for Streamable HTTP (`mcp.server.streamable_http_manager.StreamableHTTPSessionManager`). Once the lookup succeeded, the request was handled on that session without comparing its authentication context to the credentials presented when the session was created, so a request authenticated as a different OAuth client could inject messages into the session. On the SSE transport the response is delivered to the original client's event stream; on the Streamable HTTP transport it is returned on the injecting request, so the injecting client can also read the result. The SSE transport has been affected since the first release; the Streamable HTTP transport since version 1.8.0. ### Impact Servers using either HTTP transport together with the SDK's built-in bearer-token authentication are affected: the per-client isolation that authentication provides can be bypassed for any session whose ID is known. Session IDs are randomly generated UUIDs, so exploitation requires obtaining one out of band (logs, network observation). Servers that do not enable bearer-token authentication have no per-client isolation to bypass and are not addressed by this advisory, and stateless Streamable HTTP deployments do not maintain sessions and are unaffected. ### Mitigation Upgrade to version 1.27.2 or later, which records the authenticated principal that created each session — the OAuth client ID together with the token's issuer and subject when the token verifier supplies them — and answers requests presenting a different principal with the same 404 response as for an unknown session. Deployments where many end users share a single OAuth client (hosted MCP clients, gateways) should ensure their token verifier populates `AccessToken.subject` (e.g. from the token's `sub` claim) so sessions are isolated per user rather than per client. Deployments using a custom authentication backend other than the built-in `BearerAuthBackend` should enforce an equivalent check themselves.
CVSS v3.1
Score 7.1high
Affected software
modelcontextprotocol
python-sdk
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Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) Python SDK, known as mcp on PyPI, prior to version 1.27.2, contains an authorization bypass vulnerability (CWE-639). The SSE and stateful Streamable HTTP transports (mcp.server.sse.SseServerTransport and mcp.server.streamable_http_manager.StreamableHTTPSessionManager) route requests to existing sessions using only the session_id query parameter or Mcp-Session-Id header. They do not verify that the authenticated principal making the request is the creator of the session. This flaw allows a different client authenticated with a bearer token, who knows a valid session ID, to inject JSON-RPC messages into that session. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.1 (high severity), reflecting network attack vector, high impact on confidentiality and integrity, and low impact on availability. The issue is resolved in version 1.27.2.
Potential Impact
An attacker with a bearer token and knowledge of a valid session ID can inject unauthorized JSON-RPC messages into another client's session. This compromises confidentiality and integrity of the session data, potentially allowing unauthorized actions or data manipulation within the affected session. Availability impact is low. There are no known exploits in the wild as of the published date.
Mitigation Recommendations
Upgrade to version 1.27.2 or later of the modelcontextprotocol Python SDK, where this authorization bypass vulnerability is fixed. Patch status is confirmed by the version fix noted in the description. No other mitigation steps are indicated by the vendor advisory.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- GitHub_M
- Date Reserved
- 2026-06-08T21:44:27.363Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 6a57eb0b68715ace4363c891
Added to database: 07/15/2026, 20:18:19 UTC
Last enriched: 07/22/2026, 23:03:05 UTC
Last updated: 10/13/2026, 18:48:21 UTC
Views: 184
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