Lineaje UnifAI Policies

Secure Your AI with Confidence

UnifAI policies are your built-in guardrails for AI security and compliance. Instead of manually tracking complex regulations, UnifAI automates policy enforcement across your AI ecosystem, so you can innovate without risk.

Every policy is mapped to global standards like OWASP and EU AI Act, ensuring your AI systems stay compliant and resilient.

Persona
Why It Matters

Product Security

Ensures alignment with internal data and AI security standards and provides a centralized reference for policy enforcement.

Application Security (AppSec)

Enables rapid identification of data and AI-related vulnerabilities and supports secure integration of LLM-based applications.

Development

Simplifies compliance during AI model development and deployment, ensuring secure coding and data privacy.

Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC)

Helps meet global AI compliance requirements (EU AI Act and OWASP-LLM).

Legal

Provides immutable compliance records for audits, regulatory alignment, and legal defensibility.

AI Kill Chain - See How You Are At Risk

Critical security and compliance gaps can arise within AI systems when established safeguards are not followed. These include unsafe practices like hidden prompts, weak validation, poor authentication, and mishandling of sensitive data across LLMs, MCP servers, and AI agents. For all stakeholders, from developers to GRC and legal teams, addressing these issues is essential to maintain integrity, transparency, and adherence to global standards while ensuring trust in AI-driven software ecosystems.

The following section covers 10 stages involved in executing an attack using artificial intelligence and how Lineaje UnifAI helps you defend against such attacks.

Stage 1 - AI Reconnaissance

Primary Goal of Adversary: Understand how the AI behaves

Core Attack Surface: Prompts, responses, refusals

Policy ID
Policy Name

Use only LLMs from the organization’s approved list; do not use any from the disallowed list.

AI_APP_SEC_028

Use only LLMs from the organization’s approved list; do not use any from the disallowed list.

AI_APP_SEC_022

MCP clients should log all interactions with the MCP server.

AI_DAT_SEC_011

Do not log PII, feed to LLMs or expose on the UI.

AI_DAT_SEC_012

Do not log PII, feed to LLMs or expose on the UI.

AI_IAC_006

MCP server must authenticate the client.

AI_APP_SEC_035

Agent must log all interactions with the LLM.

Stage 2 - Trust Establishment and Manipulation

Primary Goal of Adversary: Make the AI assume legitimacy

Core Attack Surface: Language, tone, authority cues

Policy ID
Policy Name

Use only LLMs from the organization’s approved list; do not use any from the disallowed list.

AI_APP_SEC_028

Use only LLMs from the organization’s approved list; do not use any from the disallowed list.

AI_DAT_SEC_012

Do not log PII, feed to LLMs or expose on the UI.

AI_IAC_002

Do not allow malicious content via hidden prompts encoded in Base64.

AI_IAC_006

MCP server must authenticate the client.

AI_IAC_007

Inter agent communication must be authenticated.

Policy Violation Descriptions

The following section details policy violations impacting Application Security, Data Security, and Identity and Access Control across critical components of the AI supply chain—AI Agents, LLMs, and MCP Servers.

AI Agents

AI_APP_SEC_001

Do not allow malicious content via hidden prompts - Critical

Violation Summary

Hidden or non-visible prompts detected in the system introduce risks of prompt injection, bypass of safety controls, and untraceable model behavior.

Technical Details

Hidden prompts introduce several risks including:

  • Undetectable prompt injection

  • Unpredictable, unsafe or incorrect output

  • Bypass safety and governance controls

  • Unsafe or inconsistent agent behavior

  • Regulatory and Ethical exposure

Attack Vector: Prompt

Attack Complexity: Low

Privileges Required: None

User Interaction: None

Confidentially Impact: High

Integrity Impact: High

Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 - OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM02, LLM04, LLM08

  • March 2025 - OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-04, ASI-07, ASI-09

  • Aug 1, 2024 - EU AI Act: 1.11, 2.12, 3.13, 4.50

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/

https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/

https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_002

Do not allow malicious content via encoded prompts - Critical

Violation Summary

Encoded prompts are instructions hidden inside obfuscated text, Base64, hex, zero-width characters, steganographic patterns, metadata, or structured payloads. They allow attackers or internal actors to bypass oversight, evade filters, or manipulate an AI system without detection.

Technical Details

Hidden prompts introduce several risks including:

  • Invisible prompt injection leading to unauthorized system behavior

  • Safety bypass (toxicity, policy evasion, jailbreaks)

  • Leakage of sensitive data or internal system instructions

  • Corruption of downstream workflows due to manipulated outputs

  • Violations of transparency, record-keeping, and explainability requirements

Attack Vector: Prompt

Attack Complexity: Low

Privileges Required: None

User Interaction: None

Confidentially Impact: High

Integrity Impact: High

Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 - OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM04, LLM05, LLM08

  • March 2025 - OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-04, ASI-07, ASI-09

  • Aug 1, 2024 - EU AI Act: 1.11, 2.12, 3.13, 4.50

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/

https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/

https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_023

Client must validate and sanitize any output from a MCP server - Critical

Violation Summary

When an MCP client consumes output from an MCP server without validation or sanitization, it exposes the AI system and downstream components to malformed data, malicious payloads, injection attacks, hallucinated instructions, and unsafe tool execution. MCP server output may include structured data, commands, untrusted text, or model-generated content. Without safeguards, unvalidated output can drive unsafe automated actions, corrupt workflows, or leak sensitive information.

Input Validation

Validation ensures that input conforms to expected structure, type, length, format, and policy constraints before it is processed by the LLM. It answers the question if the input is allowed to be processed.

Examples of validation

  • Rejecting prompts longer than a defined maximum length

  • Enforcing schema compliance (e.g., JSON with specific fields only)

  • Blocking inputs containing disallowed patterns (e.g., ignore previous instructions, system override)

  • Restricting input sources to authenticated or trusted origins

  • Ensuring prompts match an approved task or intent category

Input Sanitization

Sanitization transforms input to remove, neutralize, or normalize unsafe elements while preserving legitimate intent. Sanitization ensures that the input is made safe before processing.

Examples of sanitization

  • Normalizing Unicode to remove obfuscation (e.g., leetspeak, homoglyphs)

  • Stripping zero-width or invisible characters

  • Decoding and inspecting encoded content (Base64, hex) before use

  • Escaping or isolating untrusted text so it cannot be interpreted as instructions

  • Removing or redacting sensitive data (PII, secrets)

Affected Assets

  • AI Agent

  • MCP Client

Technical Details

Lack of output validation introduces several risks including:

  • Execution of harmful or unintended actions triggered by malformed MCP output

  • Injection of unsafe code, commands, or control sequences into downstream systems

  • Propagation of hallucinated, incorrect, or manipulated data

  • Leakage of sensitive information through unfiltered server responses

  • Corruption of business workflows or agent decision chains

  • Evasion of safety controls due to unmonitored tool responses

  • Violations of auditability, reliability, and compliance requirements

Attack Vector: MCP response / server-generated output Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Medium (via cascading workflow corruption)

Timeline

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM03, LLM04, LLM06, LLM08

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-05, ASI-07, ASI-09

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: 1.11, 2.12, 3.13, 4.50

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_029

Agent must validate, sanitize LLM output including for presence of eval or any dynamic code execution primitive in LLM output - Critical

Violation Summary

When LLM outputs are consumed without validation or sanitization, the system becomes vulnerable to unsafe instructions, hallucinated commands, malicious payloads, and untrusted code. This risk becomes critical when the LLM output may contain eval, shell commands, SQL statements, or other dynamic execution primitives. If such outputs pass directly into an interpreter, agent tool, or workflow engine, they can lead to arbitrary code execution, data exfiltration, workflow corruption, or full system compromise.

Input Validation

Validation ensures that input conforms to expected structure, type, length, format, and policy constraints before it is processed by the LLM. It answers the question if the input is allowed to be processed.

Examples of Validation

  • Rejecting prompts longer than a defined maximum length

  • Enforcing schema compliance (e.g., JSON with specific fields only)

  • Blocking inputs containing disallowed patterns (e.g., ignore previous instructions, system override)

  • Restricting input sources to authenticated or trusted origins

  • Ensuring prompts match an approved task or intent category

Input Sanitization

Sanitization transforms input to remove, neutralize, or normalize unsafe elements while preserving legitimate intent. Sanitization ensures that the input is made safe before processing.

Examples of Sanitization

  • Normalizing Unicode to remove obfuscation (e.g., leetspeak, homoglyphs)

  • Stripping zero-width or invisible characters

  • Decoding and inspecting encoded content (Base64, hex) before use

  • Escaping or isolating untrusted text so it cannot be interpreted as instructions

  • Removing or redacting sensitive data (PII, secrets)

Affected Assets

AI Agent

Technical Details

Failure to validate LLM output introduces several risks including:

  • Accidental or malicious execution of model-generated code (e.g., eval, exec, Function, subprocess calls)

  • Injection of harmful commands or payloads into tools, agents, or downstream applications

  • Execution of hallucinated instructions that modify resources, corrupt data, or trigger destructive operations

  • Leakage of internal or sensitive information through improperly filtered responses

  • Exploitation of agents that automatically convert LLM output into actions (“AI code injection”)

  • Loss of safety, explainability, reliability, and auditability in automated pipelines

  • Violations of governance, logging, and traceability requirements

Attack Vector: LLM output → downstream interpreter / agent tool Attack Complexity: Low (LLM can be tricked into generating dangerous primitives) Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None (fully autonomous execution paths are most at risk) Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium to High

Timeline

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM03, LLM04, LLM06, LLM08

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-05, ASI-07, ASI-09, ASI-12

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: 1.11, 2.12, 3.13, 4.50

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_034

Clear exit or termination criteria must exist for the agent to consider its task complete and stop executing – High/Critical

Violation Summary When an AI agent is not given explicit, enforceable exit or termination criteria, it may continue executing indefinitely, escalate actions beyond intended scope, repeatedly invoke tools, consume excessive compute, or enter unsafe operational loops. Lack of defined stopping conditions increases the risk of runaway behavior, unintended system modifications, resource exhaustion, privacy violations, and unbounded interaction with external systems or MCP tools. Agents without termination logic become unpredictable, ungovernable, and potentially harmful.

Technical Details Missing termination criteria introduces several risks including:

  • Infinite or runaway task execution that triggers unnecessary or harmful actions

  • Repeated tool invocation (MCP or external APIs), leading to data exposure or workflow corruption

  • Accidental escalation of privileges as the agent searches endlessly for ways to complete the task

  • Hallucination-driven decisions due to self-reinforcing reasoning loops

  • Excessive resource consumption or uncontrolled cost

  • Increased attack surface for prompt injection that pushes the agent into unsafe recursive behavior

  • Violations of safety, oversight, and accountability requirements

Attack Vector: Agent reasoning cycle / task execution loop Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Medium to High (depending on tool access) Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Medium to High

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Injection), LLM04 (Behavior Manipulation), LLM06 (Hallucination Risks), LLM08 (Transparency & Audit Failures)

  • Mar 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-04 (Governance), ASI-07 (Reliability), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), Annex III requirements for safe, predictable operation of high-risk systems

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_035

Agents must log all interactions with the LLM - Critical

Violation Summary If agents do not log their interactions with the LLM, including prompts, responses, tool requests, and reasoning triggers, organizations lose visibility into how decisions were made, what data was exchanged, and whether harmful or unauthorized actions occurred. Missing LLM interaction logs break auditability, hinder incident response, obscure the source of incorrect or unsafe outputs, and prevent compliance verification. Lack of logging also enables attackers to exploit the agent–LLM channel without detection.

Technical Details Not logging agent ↔LLM interactions introduces several risks including:

  • Inability to reconstruct how the agent reached a decision or triggered an action

  • Loss of forensic evidence needed for incident response or regulatory review

  • Undetected prompt injection, harmful outputs, or unsafe tool invocations

  • Unmonitored leakage of sensitive data or PII through prompts or responses

  • Difficulty identifying hallucination-driven failures or behavioral drift

  • Loss of traceability required for governance, transparency, and safety assurance

  • Violations of logging, documentation, and accountability requirements

Attack Vector: Agent ↔ LLM communication channel Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Injection), LLM03 (Data Leakage), LLM04 (Behavior Manipulation), LLM08 (Transparency & Audit Failures)

  • Mar 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-05 (Data Handling), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), with Annex III traceability requirements for high-risk systems

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_DAT_SEC_001

Do not store secrets in code – Critical

Violation Summary Storing secrets, such as API keys, access tokens, service credentials, MCP tokens, encryption keys, or database passwords, directly in code, configuration files, or agent prompt templates introduces an immediate and critical security vulnerability. Hard-coded secrets are easily exposed through source control, logs, error messages, LLM interactions, and dependency analysis. Once leaked, these credentials can be used to impersonate services, manipulate AI agent behavior, exfiltrate data, or compromise entire environments.

Technical Details Storing secrets in code introduces several risks including:

  • Unauthorized access to internal systems, APIs, and third-party services

  • Full environment compromise if privileged keys (e.g., root tokens) are exposed

  • Impersonation of agents, MCP clients, or downstream services

  • Lateral movement enabled through leaked credentials

  • Leakage via LLM outputs, agent error messages, or repository scans

  • Irreversible compromise of production systems due to difficult secret rotation

  • Violations of governance, transparency, and credential-handling requirements

Attack Vector: Source code / repository / agent configuration Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM03, LLM05, LLM08

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-04, ASI-09, ASI-12

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: 1.11, 2.12, 3.13, 4.50

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_DAT_SEC_009

If PII data must be shared, it must be encrypted - Critical

Violation Summary Transmitting personally identifiable information (PII) without encryption exposes sensitive user data to interception, tampering, unauthorized access, and regulatory non-compliance. Unencrypted PII flowing between AI agents, MCP clients and servers, microservices, or external APIs can be harvested by attackers or internal adversaries through network sniffing, logging systems, or compromised intermediaries. Such exposure creates severe privacy, legal, operational, and reputational risks.

Technical Details Transmitting unencrypted PII introduces several risks including:

  • Exposure of sensitive user information through network interception

  • Unauthorized access to identity data, enabling fraud or impersonation

  • Regulatory violations (GDPR, EU AI Act, state privacy laws)

  • Inability to ensure integrity or authenticity of transmitted data

  • Leakage through LLM logs, telemetry, or debugging outputs

  • Lateral movement or privilege escalation through harvested identity data

  • Failure to meet encryption, security, and risk-management obligations

Attack Vector: Network transit / API calls / agent communication Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM03 (Data Leakage), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM08 (Insufficient Transparency & Auditability)

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Input/Output Integrity), ASI-05 (Data Security & Handling), ASI-09 (Audit & Traceability), ASI-12 (Operational Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 1.11 (Technical Documentation), 2.12 (Record-Keeping), 3.13 (Transparency), 4.50 (General Transparency Obligations), plus GDPR-aligned data protection expectations reflected across the Act

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_DAT_SEC_010

Do not log PII – Critical

Violation Summary Logging personally identifiable information (PII) exposes sensitive user data to unauthorized access, replication, and long-term retention in unsecured or low-visibility systems. Log files are frequently accessible to broader engineering, operations, analytics, or third-party tools and often persist indefinitely. Once PII enters logs, it becomes extremely difficult to control, delete, audit, or protect—creating severe privacy, compliance, and security risks across all AI and MCP-enabled environments.

Technical Details

Logging PII introduces several risks including:

  • Unauthorized internal access or external compromise of sensitive information

  • Accidental disclosure through debugging tools, telemetry pipelines, or log aggregators

  • Persistent exposure that violates data minimization and retention requirements

  • Inability to satisfy deletion, correction, or subject rights requests

  • Propagation of PII through downstream systems (LLM training data, observability tools, backups)

  • Legal and regulatory violations under GDPR, state privacy laws, and the EU AI Act

  • Loss of trust and reputational damage due to preventable data leakage

Attack Vector: Logging systems / telemetry pipelines / observability tooling Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: Medium Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 - OWASP-LLM: LLM03 (Data Leakage), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM08 (Insufficient Transparency & Auditability)

  • March, 2025 - OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-05 (Data Handling), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug, 1, 2024 - EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), GDPR-aligned data-minimization principles

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_DAT_SEC_011

Do not send PII to LLMs – Critical

Violation Summary Sending personally identifiable information (PII) to an LLM exposes sensitive data to uncontrolled processing, persistence, training retention, unauthorized internal access, and unintended disclosure. LLMs are not guaranteed to handle PII according to data-minimization or privacy-by-design principles, and model outputs may inadvertently reveal, transform, or propagate sensitive information. This creates severe privacy, regulatory, and security risks across all AI-driven workflows.

Technical Details Sending PII to an LLM introduces several risks including:

  • Leakage of sensitive user information through outputs or indirect inference

  • Inclusion of PII in model logs, telemetry, or monitoring systems

  • Potential model retention or memorization of PII, enabling future extraction

  • Non-compliance with privacy regulations due to uncontrolled third-party processing

  • Exposure through prompt injection attacks that pull stored or inferred PII

  • Inability to enforce deletion, consent, or data subject rights

  • Violations of transparency, purpose limitation, and privacy-by-design obligations

Attack Vector: LLM input channel Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: Medium Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM03 (Data Leakage), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM08 (Insufficient Transparency & Auditability)

  • Mar 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-05 (Data Handling), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), plus GDPR-aligned data-minimization and purpose-limitation requirements

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_DAT_SEC_012

Mask PII on user interfaces – Critical

Violation Summary Displaying unmasked personally identifiable information (PII) on user interfaces exposes sensitive data to unauthorized viewing, shoulder surfing, screen sharing leaks, and over-privileged internal access. Any UI that renders full PII—names, addresses, SSNs, phone numbers, emails, financial data, or identifiers—creates a high risk of accidental disclosure and non-compliance. Unmasked PII can also be captured in screenshots, monitoring tools, session replay systems, or logs, further amplifying exposure.

Technical Details Not masking PII on UI introduces several risks including:

  • Unauthorized access or accidental exposure of sensitive identity information

  • Violation of least-privilege and data-minimization principles

  • Increased likelihood of data leakage via screenshots, video recordings, demos, or shared sessions

  • Compromise through malicious insiders or overexposed customer support tools

  • Replication of PII into frontend logs, browser telemetry, or third-party analytics

  • Regulatory violations related to privacy, transparency, and secure data handling

  • Loss of user trust and potential legal liability

Attack Vector: User interface display layer Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None (visual exposure requires only observation) User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: Low Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM03 (Data Leakage), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM08 (Insufficient Transparency & Auditability)

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-05 (Data Handling), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), GDPR-aligned principles of data minimization and privacy-by-design

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_IAC_006

MCP server must authenticate all clients – Critical

Violation Summary If an MCP server does not authenticate the client making requests, any unauthorized entity—including compromised agents, external attackers, or untrusted processes—can impersonate a legitimate client. This allows attackers to invoke privileged tools, access sensitive data, manipulate workflows, or trigger system actions without detection. Lack of client authentication effectively removes all trust boundaries, enabling full compromise of server-side capabilities and AI-driven operations.

Technical Details Not authenticating the MCP client introduces several risks including:

  • Unauthorized invocation of high-privilege tools or system actions

  • Full impersonation of trusted agents, enabling malicious or deceptive requests

  • Data exposure through unrestricted access to server responses, APIs, or internal systems

  • Manipulation of downstream workflows via falsified or maliciously crafted requests

  • Escalation of privilege or lateral movement across connected systems

  • Loss of accountability, traceability, and auditability for all client-driven actions

  • Violations of integrity, transparency, and security obligations for regulated AI systems

Attack Vector: Client → MCP server request path Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium

Framework (Compressed)

Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Instruction Injection), LLM04 (Behavior Manipulation), LLM05 (Sensitive Data Exposure), LLM08 (Transparency & Auditability Failures) Mar 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-04 (Governance), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring) Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), plus Annex III robustness & security requirements

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_IAC_007

Inter-agent communication must be authenticated – Critical

Violation Summary If agents communicate without authentication, any unauthorized party—including rogue agents, compromised services, or external attackers—can impersonate a legitimate agent and issue commands, request data, or alter system behavior. Non-authenticated inter-agent communication destroys trust boundaries between autonomous components and enables impersonation, privilege escalation, data leakage, workflow manipulation, and full compromise of multi-agent systems. Without identity guarantees, agent-to-agent messaging becomes a high-risk attack surface.

Technical Details Missing authentication between agents introduces several risks including:

  • Unauthorized agents impersonating trusted components to issue commands

  • Manipulation of agent workflows or decision chains through falsified messages

  • Leakage of sensitive data exchanged during inter-agent coordination

  • Injection of malicious instructions into distributed reasoning processes

  • Loss of accountability and inability to attribute harmful actions

  • Increased lateral movement risk across agent networks

  • Violations of integrity, trust, and regulatory controls for autonomous systems

Attack Vector: Inter-agent message channel / network communication Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Instruction Injection), LLM04 (Behavior Manipulation), LLM05 (Sensitive Data Disclosure), LLM08 (Transparency & Audit Failures)

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-04 (Governance), ASI-07 (Reliability), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), plus Annex III security & robustness expectations for high-risk systems

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_IAC_008

Agents must not hold excessive external system credentials – High/Critical

Violation Summary When agents are configured with credentials to access more than three external systems, the blast radius of a compromise dramatically increases. Each additional credential expands the agent’s privilege footprint and creates new pathways for lateral movement, data exfiltration, unauthorized actions, and multi-system compromise. Over-privileged agents become single points of systemic failure if the agent is hijacked, attacked, misconfigured, or manipulated by an LLM prompt, all connected external systems are at risk simultaneously.

Technical Details Allowing an agent to hold multiple (3+) external system credentials introduces several risks including:

  • Large blast radius: compromising the agent compromises all connected systems

  • Increased likelihood of credential leakage through logs, LLM outputs, prompts, or tool interactions

  • Prompt injection enabling unauthorized use of high-privilege multi-system access

  • Lateral movement across different platforms (e.g., Jira → GitHub → AWS → Snowflake)

  • Violation of least-privilege and separation-of-duties principles

  • Difficulty revoking or rotating credentials in incident response

  • Loss of governance and traceability when many systems are accessed through one agent identity

Attack Vector: Agent credential store / agent-initiated external API calls Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium to High

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Injection), LLM04 (Behavior Manipulation), LLM05 (Sensitive Data Disclosure), LLM08 (Transparency & Audit Failures)

  • Mar 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-04 (Governance), ASI-05 (Safe Handling), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), Annex III controls emphasizing least privilege, system robustness, and secure integration

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_006

Use only LLMs from the organization’s approved list – High/Critical

Violation Summary Using an LLM that is not on the organization’s approved list introduces uncontrolled security, privacy, compliance, and operational risks. Unapproved LLMs may have unknown data handling practices, insufficient security controls, unclear training or retention policies, weak contractual protections, or unvetted model behavior. This bypasses governance, procurement, and risk management processes, exposing the organization to data leakage, regulatory violations, vendor lock-in, and unpredictable AI behavior across agentic and automated workflows.

Technical Details

Using an unapproved LLM introduces several risks including:

  • Uncontrolled processing, retention, or reuse of sensitive data and prompts

  • Unknown security posture, access controls, and logging practices

  • Potential training on proprietary or regulated data without consent

  • Incompatibility with organizational guardrails, monitoring, or audit tooling

  • Increased exposure to prompt injection, data leakage, or unsafe outputs

  • Breach of contractual, legal, or regulatory obligations

  • Loss of centralized governance, visibility, and incident response capability

Attack Vector: LLM selection / API usage outside approved platforms Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Medium (instability or service changes)

Frameworks

Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM03, LLM05, LLM08 March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-04, ASI-05, ASI-09, ASI-12 Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11, 12, 13, 50, obligations for GPAI risk management and provider accountability

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_028

Use only LLMs from the organization’s approved list; do not use any from the disallowed list - Critical

Violation Summary Using an LLM that is explicitly on the organization’s block list represents a deliberate bypass of governance, security, and risk controls. Block-listed LLMs are typically prohibited due to known deficiencies such as unsafe data handling, unacceptable training or retention practices, lack of contractual protections, regulatory exposure, weak security posture, or demonstrated unsafe behavior. Their use introduces severe security, privacy, compliance, and reputational risks and undermines centralized AI governance.

Technical Details

Using a block-listed LLM introduces several risks including:

  • Known or previously identified data leakage, retention, or misuse risks

  • Exposure of sensitive, proprietary, or regulated data to untrusted providers

  • Circumvention of organizational security, legal, and compliance controls

  • Lack of auditability, logging, or incident response visibility

  • Increased likelihood of unsafe, biased, or non-compliant model behavior

  • Breach of regulatory, contractual, or internal policy obligations

  • Loss of trust in AI governance and enforcement mechanisms

Attack Vector: Unauthorized LLM selection / direct API or UI usage Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Medium

Frameworks

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM03, LLM05, LLM08

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-04, ASI-05, ASI-09, ASI-12

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11, 12, 13, 50, GPAI risk-management and provider accountability requirements

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_032

Do not allow malicious content via hidden prompts written in leetspeak - High/Critical

Violation Summary Allowing prompts written in leetspeak (e.g., h4x0r, 3v4l, 1nj3ct, byp4ss) or similar obfuscated language enables attackers to evade input validation, safety filters, and policy enforcement mechanisms. Leetspeak transforms malicious intent into visually altered but semantically equivalent text, allowing prompt injection, jailbreak attempts, encoded instructions, and policy bypasses to slip past keyword-based detection and moderation layers. This weakens the integrity and reliability of LLM-driven systems, especially in agentic and autonomous workflows.

Technical Details

Allowing leetspeak introduces several risks including:

  • Bypass of keyword-based safety, moderation, and policy filters

  • Injection of malicious or unsafe instructions disguised as benign input

  • Increased success of encoded or obfuscated prompt attacks

  • Manipulation of agent reasoning or tool invocation logic

  • Reduced auditability and explainability due to obfuscated intent

  • Amplification of downstream risks when leetspeak-generated outputs drive actions

Attack Vector: LLM input prompt (user, agent, or external system) Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None (especially in automated or agent-driven scenarios) Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: High to Critical Availability Impact: Low

Reference Frameworks

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM04, LLM06, LLM08

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-04, ASI-07, ASI-09), ASI-12

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11, 12, 13, 50, plus Annex III robustness and risk-management requirements

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

LLMs

AI_APP_SEC_001

Do not allow malicious content via hidden prompts - Critical

Violation Summary

Hidden or non-visible prompts detected in the system introduce risks of prompt injection, bypass of safety controls, and untraceable model behavior.

Technical Details

Hidden prompts introduce several risks including:

  • Undetectable prompt injection

  • Unpredictable, unsafe or incorrect output

  • Bypass safety and governance controls

  • Unsafe or inconsistent agent behavior

  • Regulatory and Ethical exposure

Attack Vector: Prompt

Attack Complexity: Low

Privileges Required: None

User Interaction: None

Confidentially Impact: High

Integrity Impact: High

Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 - OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM02, LLM04, LLM08

  • Mar 2025 - OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-04, ASI-07, ASI-09

  • Aug 1, 2024 - EU AI Act: 1.11, 2.12, 3.13, 4.50

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/

https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/

https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_002

Do not allow encoded prompts - Critical

Violation Summary

Encoded prompts are instructions hidden inside obfuscated text, Base64, hex, zero-width characters, steganographic patterns, metadata, or structured payloads. They allow attackers or internal actors to bypass oversight, evade filters, or manipulate an AI system without detection.

Technical Details

  • Hidden prompts introduce several risks including:

  • Invisible prompt injection leading to unauthorized system behavior

  • Safety bypass (toxicity, policy evasion, jailbreaks)

  • Leakage of sensitive data or internal system instructions

  • Corruption of downstream workflows due to manipulated outputs

  • Violations of transparency, record-keeping, and explainability requirements

Attack Vector: Prompt

Attack Complexity: Low

Privileges Required: None

User Interaction: None

Confidentially Impact: High

Integrity Impact: High

Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 - OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM04, LLM05, LLM08

  • Mar 2025 - OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-04, ASI-07, ASI-09

  • Aug 1, 2024 - EU AI Act: 1.11, 2.12, 3.13, 4.50

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/

https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/

https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_038

The LLM must validate and sanitize any input before processing - Critical

Violation Summary

When a Large Language Model (LLM) accepts input without proper validation and sanitization, it becomes highly susceptible to prompt injection, encoded or hidden instructions, malicious payloads, and adversarial manipulation. Unsanitized inputs—originating from users, agents, tools, MCP servers, or external systems—can override system instructions, bypass guardrails, contaminate reasoning, and trigger unsafe downstream actions. This risk is amplified in agentic and tool-enabled environments where LLM output directly influences real systems.

Input Validation

Validation ensures that input conforms to expected structure, type, length, format, and policy constraints before it is processed by the LLM. It answers the question if the input is allowed to be processed.

Examples of Validation

  • Rejecting prompts longer than a defined maximum length

  • Enforcing schema compliance (e.g., JSON with specific fields only)

  • Blocking inputs containing disallowed patterns (e.g., ignore previous instructions, system override)

  • Restricting input sources to authenticated or trusted origins

  • Ensuring prompts match an approved task or intent category

Input Sanitization

Sanitization transforms input to remove, neutralize, or normalize unsafe elements while preserving legitimate intent. Sanitization ensures that the input is made safe before processing.

Examples of Sanitization

  • Normalizing Unicode to remove obfuscation (e.g., leetspeak, homoglyphs)

  • Stripping zero-width or invisible characters

  • Decoding and inspecting encoded content (Base64, hex) before use

  • Escaping or isolating untrusted text so it cannot be interpreted as instructions

  • Removing or redacting sensitive data (PII, secrets)

Affected Assets

LLM

Technical Details

Failure to validate and sanitize LLM input introduces several risks including:

  • Prompt injection that overrides system and developer intent

  • Encoded, obfuscated, or hidden instructions bypassing safety controls

  • Injection of malicious content that manipulates tool usage or agent behavior

  • Leakage of sensitive data caused by adversarial prompt construction

  • Hallucination amplification driven by malformed or hostile inputs

  • Propagation of unsafe or untrusted instructions to downstream systems

  • Loss of transparency, auditability, and policy enforcement across AI workflows

Attack Vector: LLM input channel (user, agent, tool, MCP, external system) Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None (especially in autonomous or agent-driven flows) Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium

Timeline

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Prompt Injection), LLM04 (Model Behavior Manipulation), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM08 (Insufficient Transparency & Auditability)

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Input Integrity), ASI-04 (Governance), ASI-07 (Reliability), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Operational Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Technical Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), plus Annex III robustness, safety, and risk-management requirements

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_DAT_SEC_001

Do not store secrets in code - Critical

Violation Summary Storing secrets, such as API keys, access tokens, service credentials, MCP tokens, encryption keys, or database passwords, directly in code, configuration files, or agent prompt templates introduces an immediate and critical security vulnerability. Hard-coded secrets are easily exposed through source control, logs, error messages, LLM interactions, and dependency analysis. Once leaked, these credentials can be used to impersonate services, manipulate AI agent behavior, exfiltrate data, or compromise entire environments.

Technical Details Storing secrets in code introduces several risks including:

  • Unauthorized access to internal systems, APIs, and third-party services

  • Full environment compromise if privileged keys (e.g., root tokens) are exposed

  • Impersonation of agents, MCP clients, or downstream services

  • Lateral movement enabled through leaked credentials

  • Leakage via LLM outputs, agent error messages, or repository scans

  • Irreversible compromise of production systems due to difficult secret rotation

  • Violations of governance, transparency, and credential-handling requirements

Attack Vector: Source code / repository / agent configuration Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM03, LLM05, LLM08

  • Mar 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-04, ASI-09, ASI-12

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: 1.11, 2.12, 3.13, 4.50

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_DAT_SEC_009

If PII data must be shared, it must be encrypted – Critical

Violation Summary Transmitting personally identifiable information (PII) without encryption exposes sensitive user data to interception, tampering, unauthorized access, and regulatory non-compliance. Unencrypted PII flowing between AI agents, MCP clients and servers, microservices, or external APIs can be harvested by attackers or internal adversaries through network sniffing, logging systems, or compromised intermediaries. Such exposure creates severe privacy, legal, operational, and reputational risks.

Technical Details Transmitting unencrypted PII introduces several risks including:

  • Exposure of sensitive user information through network interception

  • Unauthorized access to identity data, enabling fraud or impersonation

  • Regulatory violations (GDPR, EU AI Act, state privacy laws)

  • Inability to ensure integrity or authenticity of transmitted data

  • Leakage through LLM logs, telemetry, or debugging outputs

  • Lateral movement or privilege escalation through harvested identity data

  • Failure to meet encryption, security, and risk-management obligations

Attack Vector: Network transit / API calls / agent communication Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM03 (Data Leakage), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM08 (Insufficient Transparency & Auditability)

  • Mar 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Input/Output Integrity), ASI-05 (Data Security & Handling), ASI-09 (Audit & Traceability), ASI-12 (Operational Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 1.11 (Technical Documentation), 2.12 (Record-Keeping), 3.13 (Transparency), 4.50 (General Transparency Obligations), plus GDPR-aligned data protection expectations reflected across the Act

References:

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_DAT_SEC_010

Do not log PII, feed to LLMs or expose on the UI - Critical

Violation Summary Logging personally identifiable information (PII) exposes sensitive user data to unauthorized access, replication, and long-term retention in unsecured or low-visibility systems. Log files are frequently accessible to broader engineering, operations, analytics, or third-party tools and often persist indefinitely. Once PII enters logs, it becomes extremely difficult to control, delete, audit, or protect—creating severe privacy, compliance, and security risks across all AI and MCP-enabled environments.

Technical Details

Logging PII introduces several risks including:

  • Unauthorized internal access or external compromise of sensitive information

  • Accidental disclosure through debugging tools, telemetry pipelines, or log aggregators

  • Persistent exposure that violates data minimization and retention requirements

  • Inability to satisfy deletion, correction, or subject rights requests

  • Propagation of PII through downstream systems (LLM training data, observability tools, backups)

  • Legal and regulatory violations under GDPR, state privacy laws, and the EU AI Act

  • Loss of trust and reputational damage due to preventable data leakage

Attack Vector: Logging systems / telemetry pipelines / observability tooling Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: Medium Availability Impact: Low

Framework:

Nov 18, 2024 - OWASP-LLM: LLM03 (Data Leakage), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM08 (Insufficient Transparency & Auditability) Mar, 2025 - OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-05 (Data Handling), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring) Aug, 1, 2024 - EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), GDPR-aligned data-minimization principles

References:

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_IAC_002

MCP client must authenticate MCP server – Critical

Violation Summary If an MCP client does not authenticate the MCP server, it cannot verify the identity, legitimacy, or trustworthiness of the system providing tool responses, commands, or data. This creates an opportunity for attackers to impersonate the MCP server, intercept or modify traffic, inject malicious tool responses, or deliver falsified data that influences downstream agent reasoning. Without authentication, the MCP trust boundary collapses, enabling man-in-the-middle attacks, data manipulation, workflow corruption, and full compromise of AI-driven operations.

Technical Details Not authenticating the MCP server introduces several risks including:

  • Server impersonation leading to injection of malicious or misleading responses

  • Man-in-the-middle interception and modification of MCP traffic

  • Unauthorized access to sensitive MCP capabilities, tools, and agent operations

  • Corruption of workflows through falsified output or manipulated data

  • Leakage of PII or sensitive context exchanged with the illegitimate server

  • Loss of integrity, trust, and accountability in MCP-driven decisions

  • Violations of transparency, security, and traceability requirements

Attack Vector: Network/API communication between MCP client and server Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Prompt/Instruction Injection), LLM04 (Model Behavior Manipulation), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM08 (Insufficient Transparency & Auditability)

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-04 (Governance), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), plus robustness and security obligations for high-risk systems

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_033

MCP server must not directly interact with the LLM – Critical

Violation Summary When an MCP server directly interacts with the LLM—rather than operating only through an authenticated, validated, policy-enforcing MCP client—it collapses the trust boundary between system capabilities and untrusted model output. This allows the LLM to influence, manipulate, or trigger server-side actions without authorization or validation. Direct LLM-to-server interaction bypasses safety controls, authentication layers, input validation, output filtering, logging standards, and audit requirements. This exposes the environment to unbounded prompt injection, unsafe tool execution, data leakage, and full-system compromise.

Technical Details Allowing an MCP server to directly interact with an LLM introduces several risks including:

  • Execution of unsafe, hallucinated, or malicious LLM-generated instructions on high-privilege server tools

  • Prompt injection attacks gaining direct access to server capabilities

  • Bypassing client-side authentication, authorization, validation, and logging layers

  • Data leakage through uncontrolled LLM requests or responses

  • Inability to enforce least-privilege and zero-trust boundaries between model and system operations

  • Loss of auditability because actions occur without the MCP client as an intermediary

  • Violations of governance, safety, and regulatory obligations for high-risk AI systems

Attack Vector: LLM output → server action path Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium to High

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Prompt/Instruction Injection), LLM04 (Behavior Manipulation), LLM05 (Data Disclosure), LLM06 (Hallucination Risks), LLM08 (Transparency & Audit Failures)

  • Mar 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Input/Output Integrity), ASI-04 (Governance), ASI-05 (Safe Handling), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), plus Annex III robustness & safety controls for high-risk systems

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_035

Agents must log all interactions with the LLM – Critical

Violation Summary If agents do not log their interactions with the LLM—including prompts, responses, tool requests, and reasoning triggers—organizations lose visibility into how decisions were made, what data was exchanged, and whether harmful or unauthorized actions occurred. Missing LLM interaction logs break auditability, hinder incident response, obscure the source of incorrect or unsafe outputs, and prevent compliance verification. Lack of logging also enables attackers to exploit the agent–LLM channel without detection.

Technical Details Not logging agent–LLM interactions introduces several risks including:

  • Inability to reconstruct how the agent reached a decision or triggered an action

  • Loss of forensic evidence needed for incident response or regulatory review

  • Undetected prompt injection, harmful outputs, or unsafe tool invocations

  • Unmonitored leakage of sensitive data or PII through prompts or responses

  • Difficulty identifying hallucination-driven failures or behavioral drift

  • Loss of traceability required for governance, transparency, and safety assurance

  • Violations of logging, documentation, and accountability requirements

Attack Vector: Agent ↔ LLM communication channel Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Injection), LLM03 (Data Leakage), LLM04 (Behavior Manipulation), LLM08 (Transparency & Audit Failures)

  • Mar 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-05 (Data Handling), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), with Annex III traceability requirements for high-risk systems

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_006

Use only LLMs from the organization’s approved list – High/Critical

Violation Summary Using an LLM that is not on the organization’s approved list introduces uncontrolled security, privacy, compliance, and operational risks. Unapproved LLMs may have unknown data handling practices, insufficient security controls, unclear training or retention policies, weak contractual protections, or unvetted model behavior. This bypasses governance, procurement, and risk management processes, exposing the organization to data leakage, regulatory violations, vendor lock-in, and unpredictable AI behavior across agentic and automated workflows.

Technical Details

Using an unapproved LLM introduces several risks including:

  • Uncontrolled processing, retention, or reuse of sensitive data and prompts

  • Unknown security posture, access controls, and logging practices

  • Potential training on proprietary or regulated data without consent

  • Incompatibility with organizational guardrails, monitoring, or audit tooling

  • Increased exposure to prompt injection, data leakage, or unsafe outputs

  • Breach of contractual, legal, or regulatory obligations

  • Loss of centralized governance, visibility, and incident response capability

Attack Vector: LLM selection / API usage outside approved platforms Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Medium (instability or service changes)

Frameworks

Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM03, LLM05, LLM08 March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-04, ASI-05, ASI-09, ASI-12 Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11, 12, 13, 50, obligations for GPAI risk management and provider accountability

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_028

Use only LLMs from the organization’s approved list; do not use any from the disallowed list - Critical

Violation Summary Using an LLM that is explicitly on the organization’s block list represents a deliberate bypass of governance, security, and risk controls. Block-listed LLMs are typically prohibited due to known deficiencies such as unsafe data handling, unacceptable training or retention practices, lack of contractual protections, regulatory exposure, weak security posture, or demonstrated unsafe behavior. Their use introduces severe security, privacy, compliance, and reputational risks and undermines centralized AI governance.

Technical Details

Using a block-listed LLM introduces several risks including:

  • Known or previously identified data leakage, retention, or misuse risks

  • Exposure of sensitive, proprietary, or regulated data to untrusted providers

  • Circumvention of organizational security, legal, and compliance controls

  • Lack of auditability, logging, or incident response visibility

  • Increased likelihood of unsafe, biased, or non-compliant model behavior

  • Breach of regulatory, contractual, or internal policy obligations

  • Loss of trust in AI governance and enforcement mechanisms

Attack Vector: Unauthorized LLM selection / direct API or UI usage Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Medium

Frameworks

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM03, LLM05, LLM08

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-04, ASI-05, ASI-09, ASI-12

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11, 12, 13, 50, GPAI risk-management and provider accountability requirements

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_032

Do not allow malicious content via hidden prompts written in leetspeak - High/Critical

Violation Summary

Allowing prompts written in leetspeak (e.g., h4x0r, 3v4l, 1nj3ct, byp4ss) or similar obfuscated language enables attackers to evade input validation, safety filters, and policy enforcement mechanisms. Leetspeak transforms malicious intent into visually altered but semantically equivalent text, allowing prompt injection, jailbreak attempts, encoded instructions, and policy bypasses to slip past keyword-based detection and moderation layers. This weakens the integrity and reliability of LLM-driven systems, especially in agentic and autonomous workflows.

Technical Details

Allowing leetspeak introduces several risks including:

  • Bypass of keyword-based safety, moderation, and policy filters

  • Injection of malicious or unsafe instructions disguised as benign input

  • Increased success of encoded or obfuscated prompt attacks

  • Manipulation of agent reasoning or tool invocation logic

  • Reduced auditability and explainability due to obfuscated intent

  • Amplification of downstream risks when leetspeak-generated outputs drive actions

Attack Vector: LLM input prompt (user, agent, or external system) Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None (especially in automated or agent-driven scenarios) Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: High to Critical Availability Impact: Low

Reference Frameworks

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM04, LLM06, LLM08

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-04, ASI-07, ASI-09), ASI-12

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11, 12, 13, 50, plus Annex III robustness and risk-management requirements

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

MCP Servers

AI_APP_SEC_014

MCP server must validate and sanitize all input - Critical

Violation Summary

If an MCP server accepts input from clients, agents, or LLMs without validation or sanitization, it becomes vulnerable to malformed payloads, injection attacks, unauthorized tool invocation, unsafe command execution, and data corruption. Because MCP servers often expose high-privilege operations (file access, API calls, system actions), unvalidated input can be weaponized to manipulate workflows, escalate privileges, or deliver malicious instructions that compromise both the server environment and downstream systems.

Affected Assets

MCP sever

Input Validation

Validation ensures that input conforms to expected structure, type, length, format, and policy constraints before it is processed by the LLM. It answers the question if the input is allowed to be processed.

Examples of Validation

  • Rejecting prompts longer than a defined maximum length

  • Enforcing schema compliance (e.g., JSON with specific fields only)

  • Blocking inputs containing disallowed patterns (e.g., ignore previous instructions, system override)

  • Restricting input sources to authenticated or trusted origins

  • Ensuring prompts match an approved task or intent category

Input Sanitization

Sanitization transforms input to remove, neutralize, or normalize unsafe elements while preserving legitimate intent. Sanitization ensures that the input is made safe before processing.

Examples of Sanitization

  • Normalizing Unicode to remove obfuscation (e.g., leetspeak, homoglyphs)

  • Stripping zero-width or invisible characters

  • Decoding and inspecting encoded content (Base64, hex) before use

  • Escaping or isolating untrusted text so it cannot be interpreted as instructions

  • Removing or redacting sensitive data (PII, secrets)

Technical Details

Not validating or sanitizing MCP server input introduces several risks including:

  • Injection of malicious commands, payloads, or structured data into tools or system functions

  • Execution of unsafe or hallucinated instructions originating from LLM output

  • Unauthorized access or misuse of server-side capabilities and sensitive APIs

  • Corruption of data, resources, or operational workflows through malformed input

  • Increased attack surface for prompt-to-system escalation attacks

  • Loss of governance, auditability, and explainability of server-driven actions

  • Violations of integrity, safety, and regulatory obligations for high-risk functions

Attack Vector: MCP client → server input channel Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium to High (depending on server capabilities)

Timeline

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Prompt/Instruction Injection), LLM04 (Behavior Manipulation), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM06 (Hallucination Risks), LLM08 (Transparency & Audit Failures)

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Input/Output Integrity), ASI-05 (Safe Handling), ASI-07 (Reliability), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Operational Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), plus Annex III robustness & safety requirements

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_022

MCP clients must log all interactions with the MCP server - Critical

Violation Summary A missing or incomplete logging mechanism between the MCP client and MCP server creates a critical visibility and governance gap. MCP interactions often trigger high-privilege actions (tool execution, data access, workflow modification). Without proper logs, misuse, anomalies, attacks, or unauthorized system changes cannot be detected, investigated, or attributed. This results in opaque AI behavior, broken audit trails, and non-compliance with required traceability and transparency obligations.

Technical Details

Failure to log MCP interactions introduces several risks including:

  • Undetectable misuse or abuse of MCP server tools

  • Inability to perform forensic investigation during an incident

  • Loss of accountability for AI-driven actions and decisions

  • Exposure to covert prompt injection or unauthorized system manipulation

  • Violations of traceability, transparency, and record-keeping requirements

  • Difficulty detecting anomalous behavior or lateral movement

  • Corruption of downstream workflows due to hidden actions

Attack Vector: MCP tool invocation / API interaction Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None, when exploited via LLM-driven tool calls. User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Low

Framework

Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM04, LLM05, LLM08 March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-04, ASI-07, ASI-09 Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: 1.11, 2.12, 3.13, 4.50

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_023

Client must validate and sanitize any output from a MCP server - Critical

Violation Summary

When an MCP client consumes output from an MCP server without validation or sanitization, it exposes the AI system and downstream components to malformed data, malicious payloads, injection attacks, hallucinated instructions, and unsafe tool execution. MCP server output may include structured data, commands, untrusted text, or model-generated content. Without safeguards, unvalidated output can drive unsafe automated actions, corrupt workflows, or leak sensitive information.

Input Validation

Validation ensures that input conforms to expected structure, type, length, format, and policy constraints before it is processed by the LLM. It answers the question if the input is allowed to be processed.

Examples of Validation

  • Rejecting prompts longer than a defined maximum length

  • Enforcing schema compliance (e.g., JSON with specific fields only)

  • Blocking inputs containing disallowed patterns (e.g., ignore previous instructions, system override)

  • Restricting input sources to authenticated or trusted origins

  • Ensuring prompts match an approved task or intent category

Input Sanitization

Sanitization transforms input to remove, neutralize, or normalize unsafe elements while preserving legitimate intent. Sanitization ensures that the input is made safe before processing.

Examples of Sanitization

  • Normalizing Unicode to remove obfuscation (e.g., leetspeak, homoglyphs)

  • Stripping zero-width or invisible characters

  • Decoding and inspecting encoded content (Base64, hex) before use

  • Escaping or isolating untrusted text so it cannot be interpreted as instructions

  • Removing or redacting sensitive data (PII, secrets)

Affected Assets

  • AI Agent

  • MCP Client

Technical Details

Lack of output validation introduces several risks including:

  • Execution of harmful or unintended actions triggered by malformed MCP output

  • Injection of unsafe code, commands, or control sequences into downstream systems

  • Propagation of hallucinated, incorrect, or manipulated data

  • Leakage of sensitive information through unfiltered server responses

  • Corruption of business workflows or agent decision chains

  • Evasion of safety controls due to unmonitored tool responses

  • Violations of auditability, reliability, and compliance requirements

Attack Vector: MCP response / server-generated output Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Medium (via cascading workflow corruption)

Timeline

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM03, LLM04, LLM06, LLM08

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-05, ASI-07, ASI-09

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: 1.11, 2.12, 3.13, 4.50

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_APP_SEC_033

MCP server must not interact directly with an LLM - Critical

Violation Summary When an MCP server interacts directly with the LLM, rather than operating only through an authenticated, validated, policy-enforcing MCP client, it collapses the trust boundary between system capabilities and untrusted model output. This allows the LLM to influence, manipulate, or trigger server-side actions without authorization or validation. Direct LLM-to-server interaction bypasses safety controls, authentication layers, input validation, output filtering, logging standards, and audit requirements. This exposes the environment to unbounded prompt injection, unsafe tool execution, data leakage, and full-system compromise.

Technical Details Allowing an MCP server to directly interact with an LLM introduces several risks including:

  • Execution of unsafe, hallucinated, or malicious LLM-generated instructions on high-privilege server tools

  • Prompt injection attacks gaining direct access to server capabilities

  • Bypassing client-side authentication, authorization, validation, and logging layers

  • Data leakage through uncontrolled LLM requests or responses

  • Inability to enforce least-privilege and zero-trust boundaries between model and system operations

  • Loss of auditability because actions occur without the MCP client as an intermediary

  • Violations of governance, safety, and regulatory obligations for high-risk AI systems

Attack Vector: LLM output → server action path Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium to High

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Prompt/Instruction Injection), LLM04 (Behavior Manipulation), LLM05 (Data Disclosure), LLM06 (Hallucination Risks), LLM08 (Transparency & Audit Failures)

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Input/Output Integrity), ASI-04 (Governance), ASI-05 (Safe Handling), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), plus Annex III robustness & safety controls for high-risk systems

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_DAT_SEC_001

Do not store secrets in code - Critical

Violation Summary Storing secrets, such as API keys, access tokens, service credentials, MCP tokens, encryption keys, or database passwords, directly in code, configuration files, or agent prompt templates introduces an immediate and critical security vulnerability. Hard-coded secrets are easily exposed through source control, logs, error messages, LLM interactions, and dependency analysis. Once leaked, these credentials can be used to impersonate services, manipulate AI agent behavior, exfiltrate data, or compromise entire environments.

Technical Details Storing secrets in code introduces several risks including:

  • Unauthorized access to internal systems, APIs, and third-party services

  • Full environment compromise if privileged keys (e.g., root tokens) are exposed

  • Impersonation of agents, MCP clients, or downstream services

  • Lateral movement enabled through leaked credentials

  • Leakage via LLM outputs, agent error messages, or repository scans

  • Irreversible compromise of production systems due to difficult secret rotation

  • Violations of governance, transparency, and credential-handling requirements

Attack Vector: Source code / repository / agent configuration Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01, LLM03, LLM05, LLM08

  • Mar 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01, ASI-04, ASI-09, ASI-12

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: 1.11, 2.12, 3.13, 4.50

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_DAT_SEC_009

If PII data must be shared, it must be encrypted – Critical

Violation Summary Transmitting personally identifiable information (PII) without encryption exposes sensitive user data to interception, tampering, unauthorized access, and regulatory non-compliance. Unencrypted PII flowing between AI agents, MCP clients and servers, microservices, or external APIs can be harvested by attackers or internal adversaries through network sniffing, logging systems, or compromised intermediaries. Such exposure creates severe privacy, legal, operational, and reputational risks.

Technical Details Transmitting unencrypted PII introduces several risks including:

  • Exposure of sensitive user information through network interception

  • Unauthorized access to identity data, enabling fraud or impersonation

  • Regulatory violations (GDPR, EU AI Act, state privacy laws)

  • Inability to ensure integrity or authenticity of transmitted data

  • Leakage through LLM logs, telemetry, or debugging outputs

  • Lateral movement or privilege escalation through harvested identity data

  • Failure to meet encryption, security, and risk-management obligations

Attack Vector: Network transit / API calls / agent communication Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: High Availability Impact: Low

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM03 (Data Leakage), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM08 (Insufficient Transparency & Auditability)

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Input/Output Integrity), ASI-05 (Data Security & Handling), ASI-09 (Audit & Traceability), ASI-12 (Operational Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 1.11 (Technical Documentation), 2.12 (Record-Keeping), 3.13 (Transparency), 4.50 (General Transparency Obligations), plus GDPR-aligned data protection expectations reflected across the Act

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_DAT_SEC_010

Do not log PII, feed to LLMs or expose on the UI - Critical

Violation Summary Logging personally identifiable information (PII) exposes sensitive user data to unauthorized access, replication, and long-term retention in unsecured or low-visibility systems. Log files are frequently accessible to broader engineering, operations, analytics, or third-party tools and often persist indefinitely. Once PII enters logs, it becomes extremely difficult to control, delete, audit, or protect—creating severe privacy, compliance, and security risks across all AI and MCP-enabled environments.

Technical Details

Logging PII introduces several risks including:

  • Unauthorized internal access or external compromise of sensitive information

  • Accidental disclosure through debugging tools, telemetry pipelines, or log aggregators

  • Persistent exposure that violates data minimization and retention requirements

  • Inability to satisfy deletion, correction, or subject rights requests

  • Propagation of PII through downstream systems (LLM training data, observability tools, backups)

  • Legal and regulatory violations under GDPR, state privacy laws, and the EU AI Act

  • Loss of trust and reputational damage due to preventable data leakage

Attack Vector: Logging systems / telemetry pipelines / observability tooling Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: Critical Integrity Impact: Medium Availability Impact: Low

Framework:

  • Nov 18, 2024 - OWASP-LLM: LLM03 (Data Leakage), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM08 (Insufficient Transparency & Auditability)

  • Mar, 2025 - OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-05 (Data Handling), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug, 1, 2024 - EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), GDPR-aligned data-minimization principles

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_IAC_002

MCP client must authenticate MCP server - Critical

Violation Summary If an MCP client does not authenticate the MCP server, it cannot verify the identity, legitimacy, or trustworthiness of the system providing tool responses, commands, or data. This creates an opportunity for attackers to impersonate the MCP server, intercept or modify traffic, inject malicious tool responses, or deliver falsified data that influences downstream agent reasoning. Without authentication, the MCP trust boundary collapses, enabling man-in-the-middle attacks, data manipulation, workflow corruption, and full compromise of AI-driven operations.

Technical Details Not authenticating the MCP server introduces several risks including:

  • Server impersonation leading to injection of malicious or misleading responses

  • Man-in-the-middle interception and modification of MCP traffic

  • Unauthorized access to sensitive MCP capabilities, tools, and agent operations

  • Corruption of workflows through falsified output or manipulated data

  • Leakage of PII or sensitive context exchanged with the illegitimate server

  • Loss of integrity, trust, and accountability in MCP-driven decisions

  • Violations of transparency, security, and traceability requirements

Attack Vector: Network/API communication between MCP client and server Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Prompt/Instruction Injection), LLM04 (Model Behavior Manipulation), LLM05 (Sensitive Information Disclosure), LLM08 (Insufficient Transparency & Auditability)

  • Mar 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-04 (Governance), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), plus robustness and security obligations for high-risk systems

References:

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

AI_IAC_006

MCP server must authenticate the client - Critical

Violation Summary If an MCP server does not authenticate the client making requests, any unauthorized entity, including compromised agents, external attackers, or untrusted processes, can impersonate a legitimate client. This allows attackers to invoke privileged tools, access sensitive data, manipulate workflows, or trigger system actions without detection. Lack of client authentication effectively removes all trust boundaries, enabling full compromise of server-side capabilities and AI-driven operations.

Technical Details Not authenticating the MCP client introduces several risks including:

  • Unauthorized invocation of high-privilege tools or system actions

  • Full impersonation of trusted agents, enabling malicious or deceptive requests

  • Data exposure through unrestricted access to server responses, APIs, or internal systems

  • Manipulation of downstream workflows via falsified or maliciously crafted requests

  • Escalation of privilege or lateral movement across connected systems

  • Loss of accountability, traceability, and auditability for all client-driven actions

  • Violations of integrity, transparency, and security obligations for regulated AI systems

Attack Vector: Client → MCP server request path Attack Complexity: Low Privileges Required: None User Interaction: None Confidentiality Impact: High Integrity Impact: Critical Availability Impact: Medium

Framework

  • Nov 18, 2024 – OWASP-LLM: LLM01 (Instruction Injection), LLM04 (Behavior Manipulation), LLM05 (Sensitive Data Exposure), LLM08 (Transparency & Auditability Failures)

  • March 2025 – OWASP-ASI: ASI-01 (Integrity), ASI-04 (Governance), ASI-09 (Traceability), ASI-12 (Monitoring)

  • Aug 1, 2024 – EU AI Act: Articles 11 (Documentation), 12 (Record-Keeping), 13 (Transparency), 50 (Transparency Obligations), plus Annex III robustness & security requirements

References

https://genai.owasp.org/llm-top-10/ https://genai.owasp.org/initiatives/agentic-security-initiative/ https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/ai-act-explorer/

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