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paperJune 2026Unreviewed

VATS: Exploiting Implicit Authority in Error-Path Injection via Systematic Mutation

Harshil Patel, Kunal Pai

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Abstract

As the Model Context Protocol (MCP) standardizes tool-calling for autonomous agents, it introduces a critical, unexamined attack surface: the error-handling loop. We hypothesize that tool error messages possess implicit authority, triggering corrective reasoning modes that bypass standard safety heuristics. We introduce VATS (Vulnerability Analysis of Tool Streams), a mutation-driven framework that systematically evolves adversarial payloads across seven structural and linguistic dimensions. Our

Categories

Autonomous Operations

Cite

@misc{patel2026vats,
  title = {{VATS: Exploiting Implicit Authority in Error-Path Injection via Systematic Mutation}},
  author = {Harshil Patel and Kunal Pai},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  eprint = {2606.07992},
  archivePrefix = {arXiv},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.07992}
}