Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessReach exposed streamable-HTTP MCP endpoint
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DeliveryObtain victim's MCP session ID
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ExploitReplay session ID in stateful transport
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ExecutionInvoke Terraform tool calls as victim
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ImpactAbuse victim's Terraform credentials on infrastructure
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A07:2025 - Authentication Failures
ASVS 5.0
V7 - Session Management Session fixation prevention
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires that terraform-mcp-server (version 0.3.0 to <1.1.0) be running specifically in the streamable-HTTP stateful transport mode, and that the attacker first obtain a valid MCP session ID belonging to another user. Limiting factors: the vulnerable stateful HTTP transport is a specific, non-universal deployment choice (stateless setups are not affected the same way), and the attack is gated on acquiring the victim's session identifier (reflected in CVSS AC:H), which is why CISA SSVC marks it Automatable=no. No attacker-side authentication account is needed (PR:N), but victim session material is a hard prerequisite, and the practical impact is scoped to whatever Terraform credentials the hijacked session holds. |
| Impact | The signals are mixed and should be read together. CVSS 8.9 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L) reflects network reach, no required attacker privileges, and a scope change into managed Terraform infrastructure - but AC:H acknowledges the non-trivial precondition of obtaining a valid session ID. Real-world exploitation probability appears low: EPSS is 0.27% (19th percentile), CISA SSVC lists Exploitation=none and Automatable=no (so it is not a spray-and-pray target), even though Technical Impact=total captures the severity if exploited. There is no KEV listing and no public exploit identified. Net: this is a high-severity issue for organizations exposing the stateful HTTP transport in multi-user contexts, but it is a targeted, condition-dependent flaw rather than a mass-exploitation threat - patch on a normal-to-elevated priority track, escalating if the stateful HTTP mode is internet-exposed. Note the tension between PR:N and the AC:H prerequisite of session-ID theft: no attacker account is needed, but victim session material is required, so 'unauthenticated' should not be read as 'trivially remote.' |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | In a shared terraform-mcp-server deployment running the streamable-HTTP stateful transport, an attacker captures or reuses another user's MCP session ID (for example via network interception, logs, or a leaked token). Replaying that session ID, the attacker issues Terraform tool calls that execute with the victim's Terraform credentials, potentially reading state, modifying infrastructure, or exfiltrating secrets. No public exploit is identified, and the AC:H rating reflects that the attacker must first acquire valid session material. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Jul 30, 2026
Authorization bypass in HashiCorp's terraform-mcp-server (versions 0.3.0 through 1.0.x) lets an attacker who obtains another user's MCP session identifier execute their own tool calls under the victim's Terraform credentials when the server runs in streamable-HTTP stateful transport mode. Rooted in a session fixation weakness (CWE-384), the flaw carries a CVSS 8.9 with a scope change, meaning cross-user credential misuse against managed infrastructure. No public exploit identified at time of analysis; EPSS is low (0.27%) and CISA SSVC records exploitation as none, indicating no observed active exploitation.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: 1.1.0 - upgrade terraform-mcp-server to 1.1.0 or later, which fixes CVE-2026-16496 as described in HashiCorp HCSEC-2026-23 (https://discuss.hashicorp.com/t/hcsec-2026-23-multiple-vulnerabilities-impacting-hashicorp-terraform-mcp-server/77606). If immediate upgrade is not possible, stop using the streamable-HTTP stateful transport mode (switch to a stateless or non-shared transport, or run isolated single-user instances) so session IDs cannot be reused across users; the trade-off is loss of persistent multi-user session state. Additionally restrict network exposure of the MCP HTTP endpoint to trusted clients only and place it behind an authenticated, TLS-terminating reverse proxy to reduce the chance of session-ID interception, accepting added deployment complexity. Rotate and invalidate any potentially exposed session identifiers after upgrading.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Terraform exposes Terraform tooling to LLM/agent clients over a transport layer. The vulnerable configuration is the streamable-HTTP 'stateful' transport, which maintains per-user server sessions keyed by an MCP session ID. Because that session ID alone is treated as sufficient to bind tool invocations to a user's Terraform credentials, an actor who learns or reuses a valid session ID is authorized as that user - the CWE-384 (Session Fixation) root cause: session identifiers are not adequately bound to the authenticated principal or otherwise protected against reuse. The affected component is identified in CPE as cpe:2.3:a:hashicorp:tooling:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* (HashiCorp Tooling), consistent with the terraform-mcp-server codebase.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:L
Network-reachable HTTP transport (AV:N) but requires stealing a victim session ID (AC:H) with no attacker account (PR:N); cross-user credential misuse changes scope (S:C) with high confidentiality/integrity over managed infrastructure.
Primary rating from Vendor (HashiCorp).
CVSS VectorVendor: HashiCorp
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
The terraform-mcp-server before version 1.1.0 is vulnerable to an authorization bypass in the streamable-HTTP stateful transport mode that may allow a user who obtains another user's MCP session ID to have their tool calls executed using that user's Terraform credentials. This vulnerability, CVE-2026-16496, is fixed in terraform-mcp-server 1.1.0.
Articles & Coverage 1
Executive ViewAI
HashiCorp's terraform-mcp-server contains an authorization bypass vulnerability allowing attackers who obtain a valid session identifier to execute infrastructure changes under another user's Terraform credentials. Organizations running versions 0.3.0 through 1.0.x in streamable-HTTP stateful mode face direct risk of unauthorized infrastructure modification, with cross-user credential misuse potential extending the blast radius beyond individual accounts.
Apply vendor patch. Interim mitigations while patching: disable streamable-HTTP stateful transport mode, restrict network access to terraform-mcp-server to trusted networks only, and implement immediate session invalidation procedures to minimize the time an obtained session identifier remains valid.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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EUVD-2026-49940
GHSA-4crw-p722-vr7h
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB