AI SAFETY BENCHMARK
MCP-SafetyBench: A Benchmark for Safety Evaluation of Large Language Models with Real-World MCP Servers
Introducing MCP-SafetyBench, a comprehensive benchmark for evaluating LLM agents in real-world Model Context Protocol (MCP) environments. It reveals significant safety vulnerabilities and the urgent need for stronger defenses.
Key Findings at a Glance
Our evaluation across 13 leading LLMs exposes widespread vulnerabilities in MCP systems, a critical safety-utility trade-off, and significant disparities in defense capabilities.
Deep Analysis & Enterprise Applications
Select a topic to dive deeper, then explore the specific findings from the research, rebuilt as interactive, enterprise-focused modules.
Widespread LLM Vulnerabilities
MCP-SafetyBench reveals that all tested LLMs are susceptible to attacks, with an average Attack Success Rate (ASR) of 39.88%. No model achieves both strong task performance and robust defense, indicating a clear safety-utility trade-off (r = -0.572). Vulnerabilities escalate with task complexity and server interactions.
Comprehensive Attack Taxonomy
Our benchmark covers 20 distinct attack types across three perspectives: MCP Server-side, MCP Host-side, and User-side. Server-side attacks are the most prevalent (74.69%), while Host-side attacks are most effective (81.94% ASR), highlighting critical vulnerabilities in agent coordination logic.
Limitations of Prompt-Based Defenses
Safety prompts show limited effectiveness, reducing ASR by only -1.22% overall. While beneficial for explicit malicious code execution, they can be ineffective or even counterproductive for semantic misalignment attacks, underscoring the need for multi-layered defense strategies beyond simple prompts.
Enterprise Process Flow (MCP Workflow)
| Benchmark | Real-World Integration | Multi-Step Tasks | MCP Server Attack | MCP Host Attack | MCP User Attack | Attack Types | Domains |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SafeMCP | X | ✓ | X | X | X | 2 | 1 |
| MCPTox | ✓ | X | ✓ | X | X | 10 | 1 |
| MCIP-bench | X | X | X | ✓ | ✓ | 11 | 5 |
| MCP-AttackBench | X | X | X | X | X | 10 | 1 |
| MCPSecBench | X | X | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 17 | 5 |
| MCP-SafetyBench (Ours) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 20 | 5 |
Calculate Your Potential AI Impact
Estimate the efficiency gains and cost savings your enterprise could achieve with secure AI agent deployment.
Your Secure AI Implementation Roadmap
A structured approach to integrating AI agents safely and effectively into your enterprise operations.
Phase 1: Discovery & Threat Modeling
Assess current workflows, identify AI opportunities, and conduct a thorough threat model specific to your MCP environment.
Phase 2: Secure Agent & Tool Development
Design and develop agents with inherent security-by-design principles, implementing robust tool validation and access controls.
Phase 3: Integration & Testing (MCP-SafetyBench)
Integrate agents with real MCP servers and rigorously test against a comprehensive suite of adversarial scenarios using MCP-SafetyBench.
Phase 4: Monitoring & Adaptive Defenses
Deploy agents with continuous monitoring, anomaly detection, and mechanisms for adaptive defense against evolving threats.
Ready to Enhance Your AI Agent Security?
Don't let vulnerabilities undermine your AI initiatives. Partner with us to build robust, secure, and high-performing LLM agents.