vulnerability / NVI-00008851 / Revision 2
Model Context Protocol Python SDK: Client fetched server-chosen $ref URLs while validating tool results against output schemas
GitHub lists this reviewed advisory for mcp, mcp. Published version ranges and source prerequisites are shown below; this is not an inspection of a visitor’s application.
This report has not inspected your inventory, configuration, deployed build, reachability or evidence. A catalog listing and a severity score do not establish exposure or compromise.
01 / Meaning
Why it matters
Published affected context helps an owner decide what evidence to gather. This report has not examined your application.
6.5 medium
GitHub source severity; exploitability and local consequence require separate evidence.
As of · GitHub Advisory Database
6.5 MEDIUM (3.1)
security-advisories@github.com severity; no combined Null risk score.
02 / Applicability
The affected context
Affected versions, configuration prerequisites and known exclusions are public. Confirm each one against the deployed service.
mcp
source listed>= 2.0.0, < 2.2.0
### Summary In affected versions, when a connected MCP server declared an `outputSchema` for a tool, the SDK's client validated each `call_tool` result with `jsonschema`'s default resolver, which fetches any `$ref` it cannot resolve locally by opening the URL. A server could therefore put an `http://`, `https://` or `file://` reference in a tool's output schema and make the client: - request that URL, or read that local file, from the client's own network position on every call of the tool (the content was used only as a schema and never sent back to the server), and - stall: the fetch ran synchronously on the event loop with no timeout, so a target that accepted the connection and then went quiet froze every session in the process for as long as it held the connection. ### Am I affected? Yes, if your application uses the SDK as an MCP client (`ClientSession` over any transport, `ClientSessionGroup`, or the 2.x `Client`) and calls tools on servers you do not fully control. There was no setting that turned the validation off. Affected versions: 1.10.0 through 1.29.1, and 2.0.0 through 2.1.1. Not affected: applications that only build servers. If nothing in your code uses `Client
mcp
source listed>= 1.10.0, < 1.30.0
### Summary In affected versions, when a connected MCP server declared an `outputSchema` for a tool, the SDK's client validated each `call_tool` result with `jsonschema`'s default resolver, which fetches any `$ref` it cannot resolve locally by opening the URL. A server could therefore put an `http://`, `https://` or `file://` reference in a tool's output schema and make the client: - request that URL, or read that local file, from the client's own network position on every call of the tool (the content was used only as a schema and never sent back to the server), and - stall: the fetch ran synchronously on the event loop with no timeout, so a target that accepted the connection and then went quiet froze every session in the process for as long as it held the connection. ### Am I affected? Yes, if your application uses the SDK as an MCP client (`ClientSession` over any transport, `ClientSessionGroup`, or the 2.x `Client`) and calls tools on servers you do not fully control. There was no setting that turned the validation off. Affected versions: 1.10.0 through 1.29.1, and 2.0.0 through 2.1.1. Not affected: applications that only build servers. If nothing in your code uses `Client
03 / Response
What to do next
- investigate
Identify the exact component and deployed version, examine the linked publisher’s conditions, and retain evidence of any mitigation.
Confirm current vendor support, compatibility and deployment evidence. This report has not tested a fix in your system. NIST National Vulnerability Database
A fixed release is not deployment evidence.
Check current vendor support and compatibility. After making a change, verify the deployed build and relevant runtime conditions. Keep the evidence, owner and time. An updated lockfile alone does not prove what is running.
04 / Limits
What this report cannot establish
- Customer inventory, deployment, reachability and exploitation have not been inspected.
- NVD lastModified does not establish freshness of every associated CPE record.
05 / Provenance
Sources you can inspect
Each assertion retains its source. Mirrored records may repeat one underlying publisher; additional links are not independent corroboration.
- GHSA-rwrf-2pqf-9j8j ↗
GitHub Advisory Database · vendor advisory
Observed . GitHub Advisory Database; CC-BY-4.0. Each advisory links its original attribution. Null normalizes fields.
- CVE-2026-116686 ↗
NIST National Vulnerability Database · official catalog
Observed . This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
Public revision history
Only published revisions appear here. Routine fetches do not create a material-change event.
- Revision 2 ·
Source facts changed; compare the preserved prior revision.
- Revision 1 ·
First indexed by Null; source disclosure date is shown separately.