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Agent and MCP security: confused deputies, tool poisoning and least privilege

The attack surface of tool-using agents and MCP servers: confused-deputy attacks, indirect injection through tool outputs, malicious or poisoned tool descriptions, over-broad credentials, rug-pull updates, data exfiltration paths, and a defence checklist with authorisation design.

17 minยทVerified 2026-11Pro+50 XP

An LLM that only produces text can embarrass you. An agent with tools can act. Security for agents is mostly about limiting what a manipulated model can do (threat model, excessive agency).

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