Secure Ubuntu MCP Server

🔒 Security-First Model Context Protocol server for safe Ubuntu system operations

A hardened, production-ready Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides AI assistants with secure, controlled access to Ubuntu system operations. Built with comprehensive security controls, audit logging, and defense-in-depth principles.

✨ Key Features

🛡️ Security-First Architecture

• Path traversal protection - Symlink resolution with allowlist/denylist controls
• Command sanitization - Shell injection prevention with safe argument parsing
• Resource limits - File size, execution timeouts, and output size controls
• Comprehensive audit logging - All operations logged with user attribution
• Defense in depth - Multiple security layers with fail-safe defaults

🎯 Core Capabilities

• File Operations - Read, write, and list directories with permission validation
• Command Execution - Safe shell command execution with whitelist/blacklist filtering
• System Information - OS details, memory, and disk usage monitoring
• Package Management - APT package search and listing (installation requires explicit config)

🏗️ Production Ready

• Modular design with clear separation of concerns
• Comprehensive error handling with meaningful error messages
• Extensive test suite including security validation tests
• Configurable policies for different use cases and environments
• Zero-dependency security - Core security doesn't rely on external packages

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 18.04+ (tested on 20.04, 22.04, 24.04)
• Python 3.9 or higher
• Standard Unix utilities (ls, cat, echo, etc.)

Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/secure-ubuntu-mcp.git
cd secure-ubuntu-mcp

# Create and activate virtual environment
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Verify installation with built-in tests
python main.py --test

Basic Usage

# Start with secure policy (recommended)
python main.py --policy secure

# Start with development policy (more permissive)
python main.py --policy dev

# Test security measures
python main.py --security-test

🔧 Integration

Claude Desktop

Getting Claude Desktop on Linux

Official Support: Claude Desktop doesn't officially support Linux, but the community has created solutions!

Recommended Method: Use the community Debian package by @aaddrick:

# Download and install Claude Desktop for Linux
wget https://github.com/aaddrick/claude-desktop-debian/releases/latest/download/claude-desktop_latest_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i claude-desktop_latest_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f  # Fix any dependency issues

For other methods and troubleshooting, see: https://github.com/aaddrick/claude-desktop-debian

Configuration

Once Claude Desktop is installed, add to your configuration (~/.config/claude-desktop/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "secure-ubuntu": {
      "command": "/path/to/secure-ubuntu-mcp/.venv/bin/python3",
      "args": ["/path/to/secure-ubuntu-mcp/main.py", "--policy", "secure"],
      "env": {
        "MCP_LOG_LEVEL": "INFO"
      }
    }
  }
}

⚠️ Important: Use absolute paths and the virtual environment Python interpreter

Verification: After restarting Claude Desktop, you should see "secure-ubuntu" listed as a connected server, and Claude w

... View full README on GitHub