Claude Code MCP and Cursor MCP Security

Claude Code and Cursor use Model Context Protocol servers to extend coding agents with local commands and remote services, but their access to source code, credentials, and shell capabilities makes insecure MCP configuration a potential remote-code-execution risk. Claude Code stores shared project servers in `.mcp.json`, while Cursor uses `.cursor/mcp.json`; both provide approval mechanisms and environment-variable secret handling, although Claude Code may load project servers without prompts in non-interactive, SDK, cloud, or CI contexts. Several fixed vulnerabilities demonstrated risks including prompt injection creating malicious configuration, approved server definitions being altered without renewed consent, code running before workspace trust was accepted, and pull requests supplying malicious MCP configurations to CI runners. Recommended protections include updating tools promptly, reviewing MCP configuration changes as executable code, preventing pull requests from selecting their own servers, using strict or centrally managed allowlists, keeping secrets out of configuration files, applying least-privilege credentials, sandboxing untrusted local servers, and logging tool activity. For enterprise governance, Claude Code offers file-based managed policies and Cursor provides an Enterprise MCP Allowlist, while centralized MCP gateways can add consistent policy enforcement, monitoring, and audit trails across both tools.

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