Tool Impersonation and Squatting
Impersonate, shadow, or squat on legitimate MCP tools to intercept agent actions or escalate capabilities
Privilege Escalation · Stage 4
Escalate capabilities beyond declared scope or bypass authorization
FAKETOOL-INJECT
MCP tool impersonation, squatting, and schema poisoning attacks
Reproduced in a controlled lab environment (DVAA) with documented steps.
fake-tool-squatting scenario validates tool impersonation attacks
Reproductions in Damn Vulnerable AI Agent, the OpenA2A intentionally-broken agent for kill-chain validation.
Recent observations
Technique-attributed observations from the AgentPwn + TrapMyAgent fleet, classified into Threat Matrix techniques by the registry evidence bridge. See the Attack Prevalence Index for the full distribution.
AgentPwn coverage
An AgentPwn trap page produces a payload tagged with this technique class. Following the AgentPwn taxonomy of trap pages shows what an agent encounters.
Tool-injection and ghost-tool tiers exercise tool squatting and shadowing.
Evidence by source
Evidence timeline
Client fetched the canary embedded in APWN-MCP-003 on agentpwn.com (mcp-exploitation tier 3; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched the canary embedded in APWN-MCP-003 on agentpwn.com (mcp-exploitation tier 3; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched the canary embedded in APWN-TS-001 on agentpwn.com (tool-shadow tier 1; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified llm_crawler/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched the canary embedded in APWN-MCP-003 on agentpwn.com (mcp-exploitation tier 3; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified llm_crawler/claimed)
Client fetched the canary embedded in APWN-TS-001 on agentpwn.com (tool-shadow tier 1; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched the canary embedded in APWN-TS-001 on agentpwn.com (tool-shadow tier 1; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched the canary embedded in APWN-TS-001 on agentpwn.com (tool-shadow tier 1; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched the canary embedded in APWN-MCP-003 on agentpwn.com (mcp-exploitation tier 3; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified llm_crawler/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Client fetched a mcp-exploitation canary on agentpwn.com (category-level: the lure carried no payload id; classified browser/claimed)
Detection · HackMyAgent
npx hackmyagent secure --ciLive = implemented in hackmyagent; queued = declaredDefense · OASB controls
How to cite
AI Agent Threat Matrix T-4007 (Tool Impersonation and Squatting). OpenA2A, 2026. https://threats.opena2a.org/techniques/T-4007