NVD Database MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol server implementation to query the NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD) via its API. https://nvd.nist.gov/

As a prerequisite an NVD API key is required. (Request here).

Status

Works with Claude Desktop app and other MCP compliant hosts and clients using both the stdio and sse transports.

Features

• Query specific CVEs by ID with detailed vulnerability data.
• Search the NVD database by keyword with customizable result options.
• Supports Server-Sent Events (SSE) transport for real-time communication.
• Compatible with MCP-compliant clients like Claude Desktop.

Tools

The server implements the following tools to query the NVD Database:

• get_cve:

  • Description: Retrieves a CVE record by its ID.
  • Parameters:
    • cve_id (str): The CVE ID (e.g., CVE-2019-1010218).
    • concise (bool, default False): If True, returns a shorter format.
  • Returns: Detailed CVE info including scores, weaknesses, and references.

• search_cve:

  • Description: Searches the NVD database by keyword.
  • Parameters:
    • keyword (str): Search term (e.g., Red Hat).
    • exact_match (bool, default False): If True, requires an exact phrase match.
    • concise (bool, default False): If True, returns shorter CVE records.
    • results (int, default 10): Maximum number of CVE records (1-2000).
  • Returns: List of matching CVEs with total count.

Configuration

1. Create or edit the Claude Desktop configuration file located at:

   • On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
   • On Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add the following:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-nvd": {
      "command": "/path/to/uv",
      "args": ["run", "mcp-nvd"],
      "env": {
        "NVD_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Replace /path/to/uv with the absolute path to the uv executable. Find the path with which uv command in a terminal. This ensures that the correct version of uv is used when starting the server.

4. Restart Claude Desktop to apply the changes.

Development

Setup

1. Prerequisites:

   • Python 3.10 or higher.
   • An NVD API key (request here).
   • uv package manager (installation).

2. Clone the Repository:

git clone https://github.com/marcoeg/mcp-nvd
cd mcp-nvd

3. Set Environment Variables:

   • Create a .env file in the project root:

     NVD_API_KEY=your-api-key
     

   • Replace your-api-key with your NVD API key.

4. Install Dependencies:

uv sync
uv pip install -e .

Run with the MCP Inspector

cd /path/to/the/repo
source .env

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector uv \
    --directory /path/to/repo/mcp-nvd run mcp-nvd

Then open the browser to the URL indicated by the MCP Inspector, typically http://localhost:8077?proxyPort=8078

Switch freely between stdio and sse transport types in the inspector.

Testing with the SSE Client

Run the Server:

cd /path/to/the/repo
source .env

uv run mcp-nvd --transport sse --port 9090

• Runs with SSE transport on port 9090 by default.

Run the Client:

Test get_cve:

uv run client.py http://localhost:9090/sse CVE-2019-1010218

Test search_cve (default 10 results):

uv run client.py http://localhost:9090/sse "search:Red Hat"

Test search_cve (exact match, 5 results):

uv run client.py http://localhost:9090/sse "search:Microsoft Windows:exact:5"

Docker Setup

Build

docker build -t mcp-nvd:latest .

Run

With .env:

docker run -d -p 9090:9090 -v /path/to/.env:/app/.env mcp-nvd:latest

With env var:

docker run -d -p 9090:9090 -e NVD_API_KEY="your-key" mcp-nvd:latest

Custom port:

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 -v /path/to/.env:/app/.env mcp-nvd:latest uv run mcp-nvd --transport sse --port 8080 --host 0.0.0.0

Verify

docker logs <container_id>
# Expect: INFO: Uvicorn running on http://0.0.0.0:9090

Test:

uv run client.py http://localhost:9090/sse CVE-2019-1010218

Notes

• Ensure .env has NVD_API_KEY=your-key or use -e.
• Default port: 9090.

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Here’s the summary formatted as Markdown comments within a code block, suitable for inclusion in a file like docker-compose.yaml or README.md:

Using Docker Compose for Testing

This docker-compose.yaml, located in the tests/ directory, defines a service for testing the MCP-NVD server using a pre-built Docker image. It’s designed for a testing use case, similar to a standalone service like clickhouse, and assumes the image is built beforehand rather than rebuilt each time.

Assumptions

• Pre-built Image: The service uses a pre-built image tagged as mcp-nvd:test, available locally or in a registry. The image is based on the Dockerfile in the parent directory, which sets up the MCP-NVD server with uv and runs it in SSE mode on port 9090.

How to Build the Image

To create the mcp-nvd:test image:

1. Navigate to the project root:

   cd ./mcp-nvd
   

2. Build the image using the Dockerfile:

   docker build -t mcp-nvd:test .
   

   • This builds the image with all dependencies from pyproject.toml and the mcp_nvd/ module, setting the default command to run the server.

Running the Service

From the tests/ directory:

cd tests
docker-compose up

• Access: The server runs at http://localhost:9090.
• Stop: docker-compose down.
• Environment: Ensure NVD_API_KEY is in ../.env or use docker-compose --env-file ../.env up.

Running test_tools.py in the Docker Compose Scenario

To run the unit tests (test_tools.py) within the Docker environment:

1. Start the Service: Ensure the mcp-nvd service is running via docker-compose up.
2. Exec into the Container:
   • Identify the container name (e.g., mcp-nvd-mcp-nvd-1) with:

     docker ps
     

   • Run the tests inside the container:

     docker exec -it mcp-nvd-mcp-nvd-1 python /app/tests/test_tools.py
     

   • Note: Assumes test_tools.py is copied into the image at /app/tests/. If not, modify the Dockerfile to include:

     COPY tests/ ./tests/
     

     Then rebuild the image with docker build -t mcp-nvd:test . from the root.
3. Alternative: Run tests locally against the containerized service:

   cd tests
   python test_tools.py
   

   • This tests against http://localhost:9090 while the service runs.

Key Details

• Port: 9090 is exposed for SSE access.
• Logs: Stored in a log-data volume (optional).
• Image: Must be built once and tagged as mcp-nvd:test before running docker-compose.

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Credits to @sidharthrajaram for its working pattern for SSE-based MCP clients and servers: https://github.com/sidharthrajaram/mcp-sse