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CVE-2026-78573 – Default Credentials Leading to Admin Takeover – IBM ContextForge MCP Gateway 1.0.0–

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Summary

CVE-2026-78573 is a critical use-of-default-credentials vulnerability (CWE-1392) affecting IBM ContextForge MCP Gateway, an AI gateway/proxy for Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. The gateway ships with three hardcoded default passwords, and when the administrative UI or basic authentication is enabled without changing them, a remote, unauthenticated attacker can log in with the known default credentials and gain full administrative access. The flaw carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.8 (Critical).

Technical details

  • Root cause: The application ships with three configuration values — platform_admin_password, default_user_password, and basic_auth_password — hardcoded to the default value "changeme".
  • Trigger conditions: If an operator enables basic authentication (api_allow_basic_auth) or the administrative UI (mcpgateway_ui_enabled) without explicitly overriding these three password fields, the gateway starts successfully with the default credentials still active, only emitting a startup warning instead of refusing to start.
  • Attack vector: Network-based, no authentication or user interaction required (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N) — an attacker only needs network access to the exposed gateway login/admin interface and knowledge of the well-known default password.
  • Impact: Successful exploitation grants an attacker administrative access to the MCP Gateway, resulting in complete loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H) — including the ability to manipulate gateway configuration, registered MCP servers/tools, and any downstream systems or data the gateway proxies.

Affected software

  • IBM ContextForge MCP Gateway (mcp-context-forge) versions 1.0.0 through 1.0.9 — vulnerable when api_allow_basic_auth or mcpgateway_ui_enabled is enabled without changing the default passwords.

Severity

  • CVSS v3.1 Base Score: 9.8 (Critical)
  • Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Mitigation and recommended actions

  • Immediate: Upgrade to IBM ContextForge MCP Gateway v1.0.10 or later.
  • After upgrading, explicitly set platform_admin_password, default_user_password, and basic_auth_password to strong, unique, operator-defined values before enabling api_allow_basic_auth or mcpgateway_ui_enabled.
  • If immediate patching is not feasible: Keep both api_allow_basic_auth and mcpgateway_ui_enabled disabled (their default state) until credentials have been changed and the upgrade can be applied, since both vulnerable features are disabled by default. Restrict network access to the gateway’s admin/login interfaces to trusted networks in the interim.

References

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