🛡️ Security Guard MCP

Security Guard MCP is an enterprise-grade security gateway designed specifically for the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It acts as a zero-trust intermediary between Large Language Models (LLMs) and MCP tools, ensuring that every interaction is audited, sanitized, and compliant with corporate security policies.

🌟 Overview

As LLMs gain the ability to execute tools and access local/remote contexts via MCP, the risk of accidental data leakage or unauthorized system access increases. Security Guard MCP provides a robust defense layer that:

• Prevents Exfiltration: Automatically masks sensitive data (API keys, tokens, passwords) from tool outputs.

• Enforces Least Privilege: Implements RBAC and granular policy control over tool execution.

• Secures the File System: Blocks access to sensitive system files and configuration directories.

• Ensures Accountability: Logs every tool call and context exchange for audit and compliance.

Related MCP server: MCPGuard

🤖 For AI Agent Developers

If you are building AI Agents (using LangChain, AutoGPT, or custom MCP clients), Security Guard MCP solves the "Trust Gap" between your agent and your infrastructure.

Why use this?

When you give an AI Agent a tool (e.g., "Read File" or "Execute SQL"), you are essentially giving it a "shell" into your environment. Security Guard MCP ensures:

• Prompt Injection Defense: Filters malicious intent before it reaches your sensitive tools.

• Context Isolation: Limits what the agent can "see" and "touch" based on strictly defined scopes.

• Safe Experimentation: Developers can test autonomous agents without worrying about them accidentally deleting data or leaking .env files.

🚀 Key Use Cases

1. Microservices Development

When using AI agents to navigate complex microservice architectures:

• Service Discovery Protection: Prevents agents from probing internal endpoints they aren't authorized to access.

• Credential Shielding: Automatically masks internal service-to-service tokens and Kafka credentials in the agent's context.

2. Frontend & Web Development

Protecting your UI/UX workflow:

• Source Code Privacy: Allows agents to help with CSS/UI logic while blocking access to sensitive API configurations or .env files.

• Proprietary Logic Shield: Sanitizes internal business logic or intellectual property from being sent back to the LLM provider's training sets.

3. Data Engineering & SQL Agents

For agents with database tool access:

• PII Scrubbing: Dynamically masks Personal Identifiable Information (PII) from SQL query results before the agent processes them.

• Query Guardrails: Works with the Policy Engine to block destructive commands (DROP, TRUNCATE) even if the agent is "convinced" to run them via prompt injection.

🔄 The Security Flow

1. High-Level Architecture

graph LR
    subgraph "Untrusted Zone"
        A[AI Agent / LLM]
    end

    subgraph "Security Guard MCP (Safe Zone)"
        B{Gateway}
        C[Policy Engine]
        D[Sanitizer]
        E[Audit Log]
    end

    subgraph "Internal Infrastructure"
        F[File System]
        G[Database]
        H[Internal APIs]
    end

    A -- "MCP Request" --> B
    B -- "Check RBAC" --> C
    C -- "Allowed" --> F & G & H
    F & G & H -- "Raw Output" --> D
    D -- "Masked Output" --> B
    B -- "Secure Context" --> A
    B -- "Async Event" --> E

2. Request Lifecycle (Deep Dive)

sequenceDiagram
    participant Agent as AI Agent (Untrusted)
    participant GW as MCP Gateway
    participant PE as Policy Engine
    participant Tool as Internal Tool/FS
    participant SN as Sanitizer (DLP)
    participant AL as Audit Logger

    Agent->>GW: 1. Call Tool (e.g., read_file)
    GW->>AL: Log Request Intent
    GW->>PE: 2. Validate Permissions
    alt Unauthorized / Sensitive Path
        PE-->>GW: Access Denied
        GW-->>Agent: 403 Forbidden Error
    else Authorized
        PE-->>GW: Permission Granted
        GW->>Tool: 3. Execute with Restricted Scope
        Tool-->>GW: 4. Return Raw Data/Secret
        GW->>SN: 5. Inspect & Mask Data
        SN-->>GW: Sanitized Payload
        GW->>AL: Log Successful Execution
        GW-->>Agent: 6. Return Secure Context
    end

3. Policy Decision Logic

flowchart TD
    Start([Incoming Request]) --> Auth{Is Authenticated?}
    Auth -- No --> Deny([Reject 401])
    Auth -- Yes --> RBAC{Has Tool Role?}
    
    RBAC -- No --> Deny
    RBAC -- Yes --> Type{Request Type}
    
    Type -- File Access --> FileCheck{Is Path Sensitive?}
    Type -- Tool Call --> ParamCheck{Identify Risky Params}
    
    FileCheck -- Match (.env, .key) --> Deny
    FileCheck -- Safe Path --> Execute
    
    ParamCheck -- Malicious Pattern --> Deny
    ParamCheck -- Safe --> Execute
    
    Execute[Execute Tool] --> Mask[Auto-Mask Sensitive Output]
    Mask --> Success([Return Secure Output])

4. The Risk: Direct Integration vs. Security Gateway

This diagram illustrates the critical "Trust Gap" and the high risk of exposure when AI Agents are integrated without a security intermediary.

graph TD
    subgraph "❌ HIGH RISK: Direct Integration"
        A1[AI Agent] -- "1. Malicious Intent / Injection" --> A2[Internal Microservices]
        A2 -- "2. Raw Secrets / .env / PII" --> A1
        A1 -- "3. Exfiltration" --> A3{{"🔥 DATA BREACH<br/>Credential Leak & PII Exposure"}}
        style A3 fill:#ff4d4d,color:#fff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:4px
    end

graph TD
    subgraph "✅ SECURE: With Security Guard MCP"
        B1[AI Agent] -- "1. MCP Request" --> B2[Security Guard MCP]
        B2 -- "2. Policy & RBAC Check" --> B3[Internal Microservices]
        B3 -- "3. Sensitive Data" --> B2
        B2 -- "4. Auto-Masking & DLP" --> B1
        B1 -- "5. Safe Context" --> B4{{"🛡️ ENTERPRISE COMPLIANCE<br/>Zero-Trust Architecture"}}
        style B4 fill:#00c853,color:#fff,stroke:#333,stroke-width:2px
    end

🏗️ Architecture

Built on a modular NestJS Monorepo architecture, the project is divided into specialized micro-services and libraries:

Applications

• Gateway (apps/gateway): The main entry point. Handles incoming MCP requests, performs authentication, and dispatches tasks through the security pipeline.

Core Libraries

• libs/sanitizer: Deep-content inspection engine for auto-masking sensitive strings.

• libs/scanner: Security scanner for file path validation and protocol-level threat detection.

• libs/policy: Policy engine for RBAC and dynamic tool-access rules.

• libs/auth: Unified authentication layer.

• libs/audit: High-performance audit logging via Kafka.

🛡️ Security Controls

1. Auto-Masking (DLP)

The system automatically detects and masks sensitive keys in JSON payloads and tool responses, including:

• password, secret, token, apikey, privateKey, clientSecret.

2. File System Protection

Protects the host environment by blocking access to:

• Configurations: .env*, application-prod.yml, terraform.tfvars

• Credentials: *.pem, *.key, id_rsa, known_hosts, secrets/*

• Certificates: *.p12, *.jks

3. Enterprise Features

• Audit Logging: Asynchronous logging to Kafka for long-term retention and SIEM integration.

• Observability: Native OpenTelemetry support for distributed tracing and Prometheus metrics.

• High Performance: Built on Fastify for ultra-low latency security overhead.

🛠️ Tech Stack

• Framework: NestJS + Fastify

• Protocol: Model Context Protocol SDK

• Database: PostgreSQL with Prisma ORM

• Caching: Redis (ioredis)

• Messaging: Apache Kafka (kafkajs)

• Validation: Zod

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js v20+

• Docker & Docker Compose

• A running MCP-compatible Client (e.g., Claude Desktop, Gemini CLI)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-org/security-guard-mcp.git
   cd security-guard-mcp

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Environment Setup:

   cp .env.example .env
   # Update .env with your local database and Kafka credentials

4. Spin up Infrastructure:

   docker compose up -d

5. Run the Application:

   # Development mode
   npm run start:dev
   
   # Production build
   npm run build
   npm run start:prod

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.