Secure MCP Server

# Secure Enterprise MCP Server - Complete Project Plan ## Executive Summary ### Project Overview Development of a production-ready, enterprise-grade Model Context Protocol (MCP) server with comprehensive security, scalability, and operational capabilities. The server will enable secure AI model interactions with enterprise data sources while maintaining strict security and compliance standards. **Model Context Protocol (MCP)**: A protocol enabling AI models to securely interact with external tools and data sources through a standardized interface. ### Key Objectives - Build a scalable MCP server handling 10,000+ concurrent connections - Implement enterprise-grade security with zero-trust architecture - Ensure 99.9% uptime with comprehensive monitoring and alerting - Provide seamless integration with existing enterprise systems - Maintain compliance with SOC 2, ISO 27001, and industry regulations ### Success Metrics - **Performance**: Sub-100ms response time for 95% of requests - **Security**: Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) for critical/high vulnerabilities < 7 days - **Security Coverage**: 100% of code repositories covered by SAST and dependency scanning - **Reliability**: 99.9% uptime SLA achievement - **Adoption**: Integration with 5+ enterprise data sources - **Compliance**: Pass security audits and certifications --- # Product Requirements Document (PRD) ## Product Overview ### Vision Statement Create the most secure and scalable MCP server platform that enables enterprises to safely integrate AI models with their critical data infrastructure. **Model Context Protocol (MCP)**: A protocol enabling AI models to securely interact with external tools and data sources through a standardized interface. ### Target Users - **Primary**: Enterprise DevOps teams and AI/ML engineers - **Secondary**: Security architects and compliance officers - **Tertiary**: Business stakeholders requiring AI-powered insights ### Market Positioning Position as the enterprise-first MCP server solution, competing on security, compliance, and operational excellence rather than feature breadth. ## 2. Core Features & Requirements ### 2.1 Authentication & Authorization **Priority: Critical** **Requirements:** - Multi-factor authentication with enterprise SSO integration - Fine-grained RBAC with resource-level permissions - API key management with rotation capabilities - Certificate-based authentication for server-to-server communication - Session management with automatic timeout and revocation - Service accounts/principals for non-human users (CI/CD systems, automated services) - Break-glass emergency access procedures with comprehensive audit trails **Acceptance Criteria:** - Support for SAML 2.0, OIDC, and LDAP integration - Sub-second authentication response times - Comprehensive audit trail for all authentication events - Distinct authentication mechanisms for service accounts (client certificates, signed tokens) ### 2.2 Secure Communication **Priority: Critical** **Requirements:** - TLS 1.3 minimum with perfect forward secrecy - Mutual TLS (mTLS) support for high-security environments - WebSocket secure connections with connection validation - Message integrity validation and replay attack prevention - Certificate pinning and validation **Acceptance Criteria:** - All communications encrypted with AES-256 - Support for custom certificate authorities - Automatic certificate renewal and rotation ### 2.3 Tool Execution Security **Priority: Critical** **Requirements:** - Containerized tool execution with resource limits - **Tiered Sandboxing Strategy**: - **Default**: gVisor for strong isolation with minimal performance overhead - **High-Security**: Kata Containers for maximum isolation (separate kernel/VM) - **Fallback**: Standard Docker with restricted seccomp profiles and capabilities - Input validation and output sanitization - Filesystem isolation and read-only access where possible - Network access controls and egress filtering with service mesh policies - Secure tool supply chain management: - Container image vulnerability scanning (Trivy, Clair) with configurable severity thresholds - Image signing with trusted authorities (Sigstore/cosign) - reject unsigned images - Mandatory distroless base images (e.g., gcr.io/distroless, chainguard images) - Runtime secrets management integration with rotation capabilities - Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) generation and tracking - DLP scanning of tool outputs to prevent data exfiltration - Runtime threat detection with automated response capabilities **Acceptance Criteria:** - Tools cannot access host filesystem outside designated areas - Memory and CPU usage limits enforced with OOMKill protection - Network timeouts and connection limits implemented - All tool images scanned and signed before execution - Secrets retrieved at runtime from centralized secrets manager (never in env vars/images) - DLP engine blocks unauthorized sensitive data patterns in outputs - **Sandboxing Performance SLA**: gVisor adds <10% performance overhead vs Docker - **Isolation Validation**: Kata Containers available for tools requiring VM-level isolation - **Fallback Testing**: Standard Docker fallback tested monthly for degraded scenarios ### 2.4 Data Protection **Priority: Critical** **Requirements:** - Encryption at rest for all stored data - Field-level encryption for sensitive information - Secure key management with HSM support - Data retention policies with automatic purging - PII detection and handling capabilities **Acceptance Criteria:** - AES-256 encryption for data at rest - Key rotation every 90 days - Automatic PII redaction in logs ### 2.5 Monitoring & Observability **Priority: High** **Requirements:** - Real-time performance metrics and alerting - Distributed tracing for request flows - Structured logging with log aggregation - Security event monitoring and SIEM integration - Health checks and dependency monitoring - User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) for anomaly detection - Automated threat modeling and proactive defense capabilities **Acceptance Criteria:** - 99.9% metric collection reliability - Sub-5-second alert notification time - Comprehensive dashboards for all system components - UEBA system modeling normal behavior and alerting on anomalies - Automated detection of unusual tool access patterns or network calls ### 2.6 Operational Excellence & Documentation **Priority: High** **Requirements:** - Comprehensive operational runbooks with decision trees - **Sandboxing Operations Guide**: - gVisor deployment and configuration procedures - Kata Containers setup for high-isolation scenarios - Performance monitoring and tuning guidelines - Troubleshooting guide for sandboxing failures - Fallback procedures to standard Docker with security controls - Automated deployment and configuration management - Disaster recovery procedures with documented RTOs/RPOs - Security incident response playbooks - Performance monitoring with automated scaling triggers - Change management procedures with approval workflows **Acceptance Criteria:** - Complete operational documentation covering all deployment scenarios - Automated runbook execution for common operational tasks - Documented escalation procedures for security incidents - Performance baselines established for all sandboxing options - Change management integration with enterprise approval systems ### 2.7 High Availability & Disaster Recovery **Priority: High** **Requirements:** - Multi-region deployment capability - Automatic failover and load balancing - Database replication and backup strategies - Circuit breakers and graceful degradation - Recovery time objective (RTO) under 15 minutes **Acceptance Criteria:** - Zero-downtime deployments - Automated failover testing - Point-in-time recovery capability ## 3. Technical Architecture ### 3.1 System Architecture ``` ┌─────────────────┐ │ WAF │ │ (CloudFlare/ │ │ AWS WAF) │ └─────────────────┘ │ ┌─────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐ │ Load Balancer │────│ API Gateway │────│ MCP Server │ │ (HAProxy) │ │ (Kong/Envoy + │ │ (Node.js) │ └─────────────────┘ │ WAF) │ └─────────────────┘ └─────────────────┘ │ │ │ ┌─────────────────┐ ┌─────────────────┐ │ Auth Service │ │ Tool Executor │ │ (OAuth/SAML) │ │ (Containers + │ └─────────────────┘ │ Kafka Queue) │ │ └─────────────────┘ ┌─────────────────┐ │ │ Secrets Manager │ ┌─────────────────┐ │ (Vault/AWS KMS) │────│ Monitoring │ └─────────────────┘ │ (Prometheus + │ │ │ UEBA) │ ┌─────────────────┐ └─────────────────┘ │ Database │ │ (PostgreSQL + │ │ Redis Cluster) │ └─────────────────┘ ``` ### 3.2 Technology Stack **Core Platform:** - **Runtime**: Node.js 20+ with TypeScript - **Framework**: Fastify for high performance HTTP/WebSocket handling - **Database**: PostgreSQL 15+ with connection pooling - **Cache**: Redis Cluster for session and data caching - **Message Queue**: Apache Kafka for async processing **Security:** - **Authentication**: Passport.js with custom strategies - **Authorization**: CASL for attribute-based access control - **Encryption**: Node.js crypto module with OpenSSL - **Container Security**: gVisor or Kata Containers with Falco runtime security - **WAF**: Kong/Envoy WAF capabilities + CloudFlare/AWS WAF at edge - **Secrets**: HashiCorp Vault or cloud-native secrets managers - **Image Security**: Trivy/Clair for scanning, Sigstore/cosign for signing **Monitoring:** - **Metrics**: Prometheus with custom exporters - **Logging**: Winston with ELK stack integration - **Tracing**: OpenTelemetry with Jaeger - **APM**: Datadog or New Relic integration - **UEBA**: Custom analytics engine or commercial solution (Splunk UBA) **Infrastructure:** - **Orchestration**: Kubernetes with Helm charts - **Service Mesh**: Istio for traffic management - **CI/CD**: GitLab CI with automated testing - **Infrastructure as Code**: Terraform + Ansible --- # Functional Specification ## 1. Core MCP Protocol Implementation ### 1.1 Connection Management ```typescript interface MCPConnection { id: string; clientInfo: ClientInfo; authToken: string; permissions: Permission[]; lastActivity: Date; rateLimitState: RateLimitState; } class ConnectionManager { async authenticateConnection(request: AuthRequest): Promise<MCPConnection> async authorizeAction(connectionId: string, action: Action): Promise<boolean> async closeConnection(connectionId: string, reason: string): Promise<void> } ``` ### 1.2 Tool Registry & Execution ```typescript interface SecureTool { name: string; description: string; inputSchema: JSONSchema; securityLevel: 'low' | 'medium' | 'high'; requiredPermissions: Permission[]; executionLimits: ResourceLimits; imageSignature: string; vulnerabilityScan: ScanResult; } interface SecurityLevelConfig { low: { mfaRequired: false; seccompProfile: 'standard'; outputReview: false; }; medium: { mfaRequired: false; seccompProfile: 'restricted'; outputReview: true; }; high: { mfaRequired: true; mfaMaxAge: 600; // 10 minutes seccompProfile: 'highly-restricted'; outputReview: true; approvalRequired: true; }; } class ToolExecutor { async executeTool( tool: SecureTool, params: unknown, context: ExecutionContext ): Promise<ToolResult> async validateInput(tool: SecureTool, params: unknown): Promise<ValidationResult> async sanitizeOutput(result: unknown): Promise<unknown> } ``` ### 1.3 Resource Management ```typescript interface SecureResource { uri: string; type: ResourceType; accessLevel: AccessLevel; encryption: EncryptionConfig; auditLog: boolean; } class ResourceManager { async getResource(uri: string, context: RequestContext): Promise<Resource> async validateAccess(uri: string, permissions: Permission[]): Promise<boolean> async auditResourceAccess(access: ResourceAccess): Promise<void> } ``` ## 2. Security Implementation ### 2.1 Authentication Flow 1. Client initiates connection with credentials 2. Server validates credentials against configured providers 3. JWT tokens issued with appropriate scopes and expiration 4. Connection established with security context 5. Periodic token refresh and validation ### 2.2 Authorization Framework ```typescript interface Permission { resource: string; action: 'read' | 'write' | 'execute'; conditions?: Condition[]; } interface AccessPolicy { id: string; name: string; permissions: Permission[]; subjects: Subject[]; } interface RequestContext { connectionId: string; userId: string; sessionId: string; ipAddress: string; userAgent: string; authenticationTime: Date; mfaCompleted: boolean; mfaTimestamp?: Date; riskScore: number; } class AuthorizationEngine { async evaluateAccess( subject: Subject, resource: string, action: string, context: RequestContext ): Promise<AccessDecision> async checkMfaRequirement( tool: SecureTool, context: RequestContext ): Promise<boolean> async calculateRiskScore( context: RequestContext, historicalBehavior: UserBehaviorProfile ): Promise<number> } ``` ### 2.3 Audit Logging ```typescript interface AuditEvent { timestamp: Date; eventType: EventType; subject: Subject; resource: string; action: string; outcome: 'allow' | 'deny'; metadata: Record<string, unknown>; } class AuditLogger { async logEvent(event: AuditEvent): Promise<void> async queryAuditLog(query: AuditQuery): Promise<AuditEvent[]> } ``` ## 3. API Specifications ### 3.1 WebSocket MCP Protocol ```json { "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": "request-id", "method": "tools/call", "params": { "name": "tool-name", "arguments": { "param1": "value1" } } } ``` ### 3.2 REST Management API ```yaml /api/v1/auth/login: post: summary: Authenticate user requestBody: required: true content: application/json: schema: type: object properties: username: type: string password: type: string mfa_token: type: string responses: 200: description: Authentication successful content: application/json: schema: type: object properties: access_token: type: string refresh_token: type: string expires_in: type: integer ``` --- # Project Plan & Timeline ## Phase 1: Foundation ### Infrastructure Setup - Set up development infrastructure (Kubernetes cluster, CI/CD) - Configure security tools (SAST, DAST, dependency scanning) in CI/CD pipeline - Create project repositories and documentation structure - Implement centralized secrets management (HashiCorp Vault) ### Core Protocol & Security Foundation - Implement basic WebSocket server with TLS - Create authentication middleware with MFA support - Set up database schema and migrations - Implement basic logging and metrics - **Integrated Security & Performance Testing**: - SAST/DAST integration in every merge request - Baseline performance tests in CI/CD - Container image vulnerability scanning - Dependency scanning and SBOM generation **Deliverables:** - Working development environment with security-first CI/CD - Basic MCP server responding to ping/health checks with authentication - Comprehensive security pipeline integrated from day one - Centralized secrets management system ### Advanced Authentication & Authorization - Implement JWT-based authentication with session context - Create RBAC system with policy engine and risk-based access control - Add support for enterprise SSO integration and service accounts - Build permission validation middleware with MFA enforcement - Create comprehensive input validation framework with fuzzing tests - Implement output sanitization and DLP scanning - Add rate limiting, DDoS protection, and WAF integration - Create security event logging with UEBA analytics **Deliverables:** - Complete authentication system with risk-based access control - Authorization framework with dynamic policies and MFA enforcement - Security validation pipeline with proactive threat detection ### Secure Tool Execution Engine - Implement MCP message handling with strict validation - Create tool registry with supply chain security controls - Add resource management system with enhanced sandboxing - Implement error handling and graceful degradation - Build containerized tool execution with gVisor/Kata Containers - Implement image scanning, signing, and verification - Add timeout handling, cleanup, and network egress controls - Create tool result caching with encryption at rest - Integrate Falco for runtime threat detection **Deliverables:** - Functional MCP server with hardened tool execution - Secure tool supply chain with scanning and signing - Enhanced sandboxing with runtime threat detection ## Phase 2: Enterprise Features ### Advanced Security - Implement encryption at rest for all stored data - Add HSM integration for key management - Create certificate management system - Implement field-level encryption for PII - Build comprehensive audit logging - Create compliance reporting tools - Implement data retention policies - Add privacy controls and data anonymization **Deliverables:** - Complete encryption implementation - Audit and compliance framework - Privacy and data protection controls ### Scalability & Performance - Implement connection pooling and load balancing - Add horizontal scaling capabilities - Create session management and state handling - Optimize WebSocket performance - Implement multi-layer caching strategy - Add database query optimization - Create connection multiplexing - Implement response compression **Deliverables:** - Scalable connection management - Performance optimization framework - Caching infrastructure ### Monitoring & Operations - Implement comprehensive metrics collection - Add distributed tracing with OpenTelemetry - Create custom dashboards and alerts - Build performance profiling tools - Implement multi-region deployment - Add automatic failover capabilities - Create disaster recovery procedures - Build health check and dependency monitoring **Deliverables:** - Complete monitoring and alerting system - High availability architecture - Disaster recovery capabilities ## Phase 3: Integration & Testing ### Enterprise Integrations - Build database connectivity modules - Create API integration framework - Add file system and cloud storage connectors - Implement streaming data capabilities - Add CI/CD pipeline integration - Create approval workflow system - Build change management capabilities - Implement automated deployment tools **Deliverables:** - Enterprise data source integrations - Workflow and automation capabilities - Deployment and operations tools ### Advanced Testing & Quality Assurance - **Shifted Left Testing**: Continuous security and performance validation - Create comprehensive unit test suite with security test cases - Build integration and end-to-end tests with threat simulation - Implement load and performance testing with chaos engineering - Add fuzz testing for MCP protocol and input parsing - Add security testing, penetration tests, and automated threat modeling - Perform security audits and vulnerability assessments - Conduct performance testing and optimization with event loop monitoring - Validate compliance requirements and execute disaster recovery testing **Deliverables:** - Comprehensive test automation suite with security focus - Chaos engineering and automated failover validation - Performance optimization with Node.js-specific monitoring ### Documentation & Training - Create comprehensive API documentation - Build deployment and operations guides - Develop security and compliance documentation - Create troubleshooting and FAQ resources - Develop training materials and workshops - Create support documentation and runbooks - Build monitoring and alerting guides - Prepare go-live documentation **Deliverables:** - Complete documentation suite - Training and support materials - Go-live preparation and validation ## Phase 4: Deployment & Launch ### Staging Deployment - Deploy to staging environment with production configuration - Execute full integration testing - Perform load testing and capacity planning - Validate security controls and compliance - Conduct user acceptance testing with key stakeholders - Perform security penetration testing - Execute disaster recovery validation - Optimize performance based on testing results **Deliverables:** - Staging environment deployment - User acceptance testing validation - Security and performance validation ### Production Deployment - Deploy production infrastructure - Configure monitoring and alerting - Set up backup and disaster recovery - Implement security controls and compliance monitoring - Execute phased production rollout - Monitor system performance and stability - Validate security controls and audit logging - Provide user training and support **Deliverables:** - Production environment deployment - Successful gradual rollout - System stability and performance validation ### Optimization & Handover - Optimize system performance based on production metrics - Fine-tune security controls and policies - Validate compliance and audit requirements - Complete security certifications - Complete knowledge transfer to operations team - Finalize documentation and support procedures - Conduct project retrospective and lessons learned - Plan for ongoing maintenance and enhancements **Deliverables:** - Optimized production system - Complete knowledge transfer - Project closure and transition to operations ## Risk Assessment & Mitigation ### High-Risk Items 1. **Security Vulnerabilities**: Continuous security testing and audits with shift-left approach 2. **Performance at Scale**: Early load testing, event loop monitoring, and Node.js optimization 3. **Compliance Requirements**: Regular compliance reviews and automated compliance testing 4. **Integration Complexity**: Phased integration approach with comprehensive fallback plans 5. **Tool Escape/Container Breakout**: Defense-in-depth with gVisor/Kata, minimal capabilities, Falco monitoring, strict egress policies 6. **Secret Sprawl**: Centralized secrets management as Phase 1 requirement, strict no-secrets-in-code policy 7. **Supply Chain Attacks**: Image scanning, signing verification, minimal base images, SBOM generation ### Medium-Risk Items 1. **Technology Stack Changes**: Flexible architecture with abstraction layers and performance monitoring 2. **Resource Availability**: Cross-training, knowledge sharing, and documented runbooks 3. **Timeline Pressure**: Agile methodology with continuous delivery and automated testing 4. **Stakeholder Alignment**: Regular communication, demos, and security/performance dashboards 5. **Node.js Event Loop Blocking**: Performance profiling, worker threads for CPU-intensive tasks, monitoring and alerting ## Success Criteria ### Technical Metrics - **Performance**: 99th percentile response time under 100ms - **Scalability**: Handle 10,000 concurrent connections - **Security**: Zero critical security vulnerabilities - **Reliability**: 99.9% uptime SLA achievement ### Business Metrics - **Adoption**: 80% of target user base onboarded within 6 months - **Satisfaction**: Net Promoter Score (NPS) above 50 - **ROI**: Positive return on investment within 18 months - **Compliance**: Pass all required security audits and certifications This comprehensive plan provides a roadmap for building a production-ready, enterprise-grade secure MCP server that meets the highest standards of security, scalability, and operational excellence.