Article Summary
A new attack vector, "Output Poisoning," targets Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers and the broader AI assistant ecosystem.
- The attack involves injecting invisible, zero-width characters into Large Language Model (LLM) outputs that appear benign to users.
- MCP servers can transmit these unsanitized characters, allowing them to bypass security filters and alter the behavior of downstream AI assistant tools and systems.
- This can lead to severe consequences such as command injection, data exfiltration, or unauthorized execution within environments processing the "poisoned" output.
- The research demonstrates how this vulnerability allows attackers to compromise systems even when outputs seem clean, highlighting a significant security concern for MCP server operators and AI assistant developers.