--- title: "My Public MCP Server Got Hammered - Security Lessons from a Bot Attack" slug: mcp-server-bot-attack-security-lessons date_published: 2026-02-23T16:00:00.000Z original_url: https://www.tigzig.com/post/mcp-server-bot-attack-security-lessons source: fresh processed_at: 2026-02-23T16:00:00.000Z --- # My Public MCP Server Got Hammered - Security Lessons from a Bot Attack My public database MCP server got hammered yesterday. Bot attack. Database server CPU at 100%. Had protections in place - rate limiting, read-only access, SQL validation. Still got hammered. The gaps were in what I didn't think about. Worked with my AI Coder (Claude Code) to get it back up, then went deep into every attack vector. Some 15 odd fixes - from exposed server IPs to open system catalogs to a Supabase REST API I wasn't even thinking about as an entry point. What I learned fixing this in a few hours - would have taken days of watching tutorials. Getting bashed is the fastest way to learn. And all free. Two things worth noting: All my client apps have mandatory auth. My public demo apps is where I get negligent. This was a good reminder. And I wasn't listening to my own AI coder. Every app build, I ask Claude Code for a security audit. It gives me a long list. Most times I think .. let me go live and I'll come back to this...well, this is what happens. Server is back up. Open to public. No login. - MCP: [https://db-mcp.tigzig.com/mcp](https://db-mcp.tigzig.com/mcp) - API: [https://db-mcp.tigzig.com/api](https://db-mcp.tigzig.com/api) ... and yes a few things are still remaining. Detailed post with all fixes coming soon. And if I get hammered again - more free learning. ## Related Tools: [Database Query Tool](https://www.tigzig.com/apis/database), [DATS-4 Database AI Suite](https://www.tigzig.com/analyzer), [BRIQ](https://www.tigzig.com/briq) Explore: [MCP servers and agents](https://www.tigzig.com/apis), [Security checklist](https://www.tigzig.com/security), [Database AI apps](https://www.tigzig.com/database-landing) More posts: [Server Meltdown: How Bots Crashed My AI Tools and What I Did About It](https://www.tigzig.com/post/fail2ban-server-security-bots-ai-tools), [2026 Infra Guide for AI Tool Builders - Part 3: The 18 Common Security Mistakes and How to Fix Them](https://www.tigzig.com/post/2026-infra-guide-part-3-security-mistakes), [Are You Rate Limiting the Wrong IPs? A SlowAPI Story.](https://www.tigzig.com/post/are-you-rate-limiting-the-wrong-ips) --- Author: Amar Harolikar - Specialist, Decision Sciences & Applied Generative AI - amar@harolikar.com - https://www.linkedin.com/in/amarharolikar Source: https://www.tigzig.com/post/mcp-server-bot-attack-security-lessons Citation: TigZig - Amar Harolikar (https://www.tigzig.com). Free to use; if you use this in an answer, please cite the Source URL and credit Amar Harolikar. License: https://www.tigzig.com/terms