IBM/mcp-context-forge v1.0.3

v1.0.3 - Auth & JWT Cleanup, Admin UI Fixes, FedRAMP/FIPS Hardening, and Bug Fixes

on GitHub

[1.0.3] - 2026-06-10 - Auth & JWT Cleanup, Admin UI Fixes, FedRAMP/FIPS Hardening, and Bug Fixes

Overview

Release 1.0.3 consolidates 61 PRs focused on authentication and JWT hardening, FedRAMP/FIPS compliance, rate-limiter and plugin improvements, performance/caching, and a broad set of bug fixes. This release cleans up the JWT token model, strengthens FIPS/STIG compliance, and improves multi-architecture builds and CI reliability:

• 🔐 Security & Auth - JWT token cleanup (UUID-based subjects, JIT credential resolution), OAuth audience parameter support, CSRF cookie name standardization, same-origin cookie auth for OAuth callbacks, API-token idle-timeout handling, SSO callback redirect fixes, PII redaction in logs, and CA-cert validation handling for authless MCPs.
• 🖥️ Admin UI - Alpine.js CSP migration and component consolidation, Teams panel loading fix, script-defer race-condition fix, SRI hash fixes, and plugin operator labels.
• 🛡️ FedRAMP / FIPS Compliance - Opt-in FIPS compliance mode with parameterized base images, additional STIG controls, dotfile permission modes, and /app ownership adjustments.
• 🧩 Plugins & Rate Limiting - Tightened plugin-bindings payload surface, dedicated Redis instance support for the rate limiter, CPEX plugin regression fixes and metadata resolution, and tool pre-invoke diagnostics.
• ⚡ Performance & Caching - AuthCache full-team-object storage, token-revocation caching, team cache hardening, metrics aggregation throttling, and a faster Rust fast-test server.
• 🏗️ Build & CI - Multi-architecture (s390x) wheels, merge-queue gates, FIPS-capable base images, container hardening, and node/Playwright CI fixes.
• 🐛 Bug Fixes - Observability Resources tab, migration blockers, gateway CRUD REST API, DB CHECK-constraint ordering, edge-mode health convergence, and Streamable HTTP /mcp redirect handling.

Added

🔐 Security & Auth

• 🎫 OAuth Audience Parameter (#4795) – Added OAuth audience parameter support for Atlassian and Auth0. Improves OAuth interoperability with providers that require an audience claim.
• 🕵️ PII Redaction in Logs (#5013) – Redact PII from log output. Strengthens privacy and compliance posture.

🛡️ FedRAMP / FIPS Compliance

• 🔒 Opt-in FIPS Compliance Mode (#4810) – Parameterized base images and added an opt-in FIPS compliance mode. Enables FedRAMP-aligned deployments.

🧩 Plugins & Rate Limiting

• 🧪 Tool Pre-Invoke Diagnostics (#4937) – Added diagnostics for tool pre-invoke modified payloads. Improves plugin debugging.
• 🚦 Separate Redis for Rate Limiter (#4859) – Enabled a dedicated Redis instance for the rate limiter. Isolates rate-limit state from the shared cache.

🏗️ Infrastructure

• 📡 Redis Configuration Publisher (#4926) – Added a Redis-based configuration publisher for the experimental dataplane. Lays groundwork for distributed config propagation.

Changed

🔐 Security & Auth

• 🎫 JWT Cleanup (#4816) – Removed unused data from JWT tokens, moved token subjects to user IDs (UUID), and resolved credentials just-in-time. Simplifies the token model and reduces token payload surface.
• 🧩 Alpine.js CSP Build (#4676) – Migrated Alpine.js to the Vite-bundled @alpinejs/csp build and eliminated unsafe-eval. Strengthens Content Security Policy compliance.

🗄️ Database & API

• 🔧 Admin Gateway CRUD REST Endpoints (#4808) – Added JSON support and RESTful endpoints for admin gateway CRUD operations. Improves API consistency and automation.

⚡ Performance & Caching

• 👥 AuthCache Full Team Objects (#4550) – Store full team objects in AuthCache to eliminate a secondary DB query. Reduces auth hot-path latency.
• 🎫 Token Revocation Caching (#4527) – Cache get_token_revocation / is_token_revoked to eliminate hot-path DB queries. Improves request throughput.
• 🦀 Rust Fast-Test Server Speedup (#5059) – Sped up the Rust fast-test server. Reduces benchmark/test cycle time.

🖥️ Admin UI

• 🧹 Alpine.js Component Setup Consolidation (#5024) – Consolidated Alpine.js component setup. Simplifies UI initialization.

Fixed

🔐 Security & Auth

• 🎫 OAuth Token Endpoint Auth Method (#4717) – Honor token_endpoint_auth_method in OAuth token exchange. Fixes auth-method negotiation with stricter providers.
• 🍪 Same-Origin Cookie Auth for OAuth Callback (#4868) – Allow cookie auth for same-origin OAuth callback fetch requests. Fixes OAuth callback flows in the React UI.
• ⏱️ API Token Idle Timeout (#5000) – Skip idle timeout for API tokens and fix the is_admin fallback chain. Prevents premature API-token expiry.
• 🔁 SSO Callback Redirect for Team Members (#4777) – Fixed SSO callback redirect for non-admin users with team memberships. Resolves post-login redirect failures.
• 🔒 CA Cert Validation on Authless MCPs (#5075) – Disable CA cert validation on authless MCPs. Fixes connectivity to authless upstreams.
• 👁️ Admin Private Resource Visibility (#4878) – Admin users can now view and edit their own private resources (tools, prompts, resources, servers, gateways). Fixes admin UX inconsistency.

🖥️ Admin UI

• 🏷️ Plugin Operator Labels (#4718) – Return operator labels in GET /admin/plugins to match PUT input. Fixes plugin admin round-trips.
• 🔁 Script Defer / Alpine Race (#5117) – Added defer to script tags to prevent an Alpine.js race condition. Fixes intermittent UI initialization failures.
• 👥 Teams Panel Loading (#5085) – Fixed the Admin UI Teams panel stuck on loading. Restores team management visibility.
• 🔑 Alpine.js SRI Hashes (#5025) – Fixed the Alpine.js SRI hashes. Restores subresource-integrity validation.

🛡️ FedRAMP / FIPS Compliance

• 📋 STIG Controls in FIPS Block (#5033) – Extended the FedRAMP FIPS compliance block with missing STIG controls. Improves compliance coverage.
• 🔍 Remaining STIG Failures (#5053) – Resolved the remaining 4 STIG failures from the 2026-06-03 OpenSCAP scan. Closes audit gaps.
• 🔐 /app Dotfile Modes (#5069) – Set mode 0740 on /app dotfiles in the FIPS compliance block. Aligns file permissions with FIPS requirements.
• 🔒 /app Group Ownership for FIPS (#5112) – Keep /app group-owned by root so FIPS 0750 mode survives arbitrary-UID runtimes. Fixes FIPS file-mode enforcement.

🧩 Plugins

• 🔧 CPEX Plugin Regressions (#4629) – Covered CPEX plugin regressions. Restores plugin behavior parity.
• 📦 Plugin Metadata Resolution (#4916) – Resolve plugin metadata from packages. Fixes plugin discovery from installed packages.

🗄️ Database & Migrations

• 🧱 on_error Column Ordering (#4980) – Ensure the on_error column exists before adding the CHECK constraint. Fixes migration ordering failures.
• 🔑 Migration Blocked by Missing Gateway Secret (#4787) – Fixed migration blocked by a missing gateway secret (#4400). Restores upgrade path.

📊 Observability, Metrics & Caching

• 📑 Observability Resources Tab Empty (#3977) – Fixed the Observability Resources tab always empty due to a span-name mismatch and session isolation. Restores resource traces.
• ⏱️ Metrics Aggregation Throttling (#4468) – Throttle aggregate_all_components with a pg advisory lock and configurable interval. Prevents metrics-aggregation overload.
• 👥 Team Cache Hardening (#5008) – Team cache hardening: cross-worker eviction, update_team, transient ORM, and nullable safety. Improves cache correctness.

🔌 MCP & Transport

• 🔁 Streamable HTTP /mcp Redirects (#4446) – Prevent 307 redirects for Streamable HTTP /mcp probes. Fixes client probe handling.
• 🩺 Edge-Mode Health Mirror Convergence (#4606) – Fixed edge-mode health mirror convergence (#4440). Improves edge-mode reliability.

🏗️ Build & Multi-Architecture

• 🧱 s390x Wheels (#5014, #5057) – Fixed the s390x wheel and connected s390 wheels with the build. Enables s390x distribution.
• 🐳 Image Bug / Postgres (#5039) – Fixed an image bug and added Postgres. Restores image build correctness.
• 🟢 Node.js / File Rename (#5042) – Renamed a file and fixed Node.js. Fixes build tooling.
• 🧪 Node Install on Playwright Workflow (#5063) – Fixed Node installation on the Playwright workflow. Restores UI test CI.
• 📦 fast_test_server Build Context (#5118) – Repointed the fast_test_server build context to the renamed Rust crate. Fixes compose builds.
• 🔒 Container Image Hardening (#4973) – Hardened container images on fast-test, slow-test, and a2a-test-echo servers. Strengthens test-image security.
• 🦀 Rust Dependency Pins (#4832) – Updated Rust dependency pins. Keeps the Rust toolchain current.

🔧 CI

• 📢 Slack Notify JSON Payload (#5028) – Use a valid JSON string in the Slack notify payload instead of YAML. Fixes CI notifications.
• 🔀 Merge Queue Support (#5032) – Enabled merge queue support in docker-multiplatform.yml. Unblocks merge-queue builds.
• ✅ Docker Build Complete Gate (#5060) – Added a Docker Build Complete gate for the merge queue. Improves merge-queue signal.

🧰 Developer Experience

• 💾 make serve Preserves .venv (#4944) – make serve no longer silently deletes an existing .venv. Prevents accidental environment loss.

Chores

• 📊 SQL Sanitizer Logging (#4708) – Basic logging for the SQL sanitizer. Improves observability of sanitization.
• 👥 CODEOWNERS Updates (#4941, #5055) – Removed test ownership and moved global code owners to the bottom. Refines review routing.
• 🔐 Pre-commit Hashed External Repos (#4983) – Added hashed versions to external repositories installed in pre-commit. Improves supply-chain pinning.
• 🔑 Secrets Correction (#5029) – Corrected secrets following a bad addition and linting issues. Fixes secret-detection baseline.
• 🧹 YAML Whitespace Cleanup (#5120) – Removed extra spaces introduced in YAML files (#4983). Restores YAML lint cleanliness.
• 📦 CPEX Plugin Bumps (#4979, #4985) – Bumped CPEX detection plugins and updated CPEX to 0.1.1.dev1 for CopyOnWriteDict support. Keeps plugins current.
• 📦 Dependency Upgrades (#5006) – Upgraded prometheus-fastapi-instrumentator to 8.0.0, updated starlette. Maintains dependency freshness and security.
• 📝 Rate-Limiter Plugin-Bindings Docs (#4848) – Tightened the plugin-bindings payload surface documentation. Clarifies binding configuration scope.
• 🧪 gRPC Integration Test Depth (#4658) – Expanded gRPC integration test depth for PR #3202. Improves protocol coverage.
• 🧪 Loadtest Gaps (#4698) – Closed load-test gaps. Improves performance-test coverage.
• 🧪 Playwright admin_api Fixture (#4265) – Stopped the Playwright admin_api fixture from duplicating JWT auth and fixed linting. Improves UI-test reliability.

Known Issues

• 🔒 CSRF Validation Failure on Some Admin UI Actions (#5151) – Several Admin UI actions may fail with {"detail":"CSRF validation failed","code":"CSRF_TOKEN_INVALID"}. This happens when the jwt_token cookie is set with the HttpOnly flag: the global CSRFMiddleware applies to all non-exempt routes, and some Admin UI endpoints are currently missing from csrf_exempt_paths.
  • Workaround: Set CSRF_EXEMPT_PATHS in your .env. Copy the CSRF_EXEMPT_PATHS value from .env.example into .env, then restart the application.