MCP Goat

A deliberately vulnerable MCP (Model Context Protocol) application for learning MCP security through hands-on exercises. Inspired by AndroGoat, OWASP WebGoat, and other vulnerable applications. MCP Goat covers all 10 categories of the OWASP MCP Top 10.

WARNING: This application contains intentionally vulnerable servers. Do NOT expose to untrusted networks. For educational use only.

Quick Start

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/satishpatnayak/MCP-Goat.git
cd MCP-Goat

# Create virtual environment and install
uv venv && source .venv/bin/activate && uv pip install -e .
# OR without uv:
python3 -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate && pip install -e .

# List all challenges
mcp-goat list

# Start a vulnerable server
mcp-goat run mcp01-c01

# View guided exercise instructions
mcp-goat exercise mcp01-c01

# Get LLM client config snippet
mcp-goat config mcp01-c01

Related MCP server: MCP Object-Authz Lab

How It Works

1. Choose a challenge from the list (mcp-goat list)

2. Read the exercise (mcp-goat exercise <id>) to understand the vulnerability

3. Start the vulnerable server (mcp-goat run <id>)

4. Connect your LLM client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, LM Studio, MCP Inspector)

5. Explore and exploit the vulnerability following the guided steps

6. Learn the mitigations from the solution section

Connecting to Your LLM Client

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-goat": {
      "command": "/full/path/to/mcp-goat/.venv/bin/mcp-goat",
      "args": ["run", "mcp01-c01"]
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Go to Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP → Add new MCP Server, or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-goat": {
      "command": "/full/path/to/mcp-goat/.venv/bin/mcp-goat",
      "args": ["run", "mcp01-c01"]
    }
  }
}

Important: Use the full path to mcp-goat inside the .venv/bin/ directory. LLM clients don't activate virtual environments, so the bare mcp-goat command won't work.

To get your full path, run: echo "$(pwd)/.venv/bin/mcp-goat"

MCP Inspector

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector mcp-goat run mcp01-c01

Challenges

Adding New Challenges

1. Create a directory under src/mcp_goat/challenges/<category>/<challenge>/

2. Add:

   • __init__.py

   • challenge.py — subclass Challenge with metadata

   • server.py — the vulnerable FastMCP server

   • exercise.md — guided exercise instructions

3. Run mcp-goat list — auto-discovery picks it up immediately

Requirements

• Python 3.11+

• uv (recommended) or pip

• Dependencies (installed automatically): mcp, click, rich, pyyaml

References

• OWASP MCP Top 10

• Model Context Protocol

• MCP Security Cheat Sheet

License

MIT