get_active_alarms
AI agents call get_active_alarms to retrieve information from AWS IoT SiteWise MCP Server without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves or queries alarm information from AWS IoT SiteWise, which is a read-only operation with no side effects. There is no indication it creates, modifies, deletes, or executes anything. The low severity reflects that reading alarm status poses minimal risk even if misused by an AI agent.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'get_active_alarms' indicates retrieval of alarm state data. No description provided, but the 'get_' prefix and 'alarms' noun suggest querying existing alarms without modification or execution.
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
get_active_alarms. It is categorised as a Read tool in the AWS IoT SiteWise MCP Server MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the AWS IoT SiteWise MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get_active_alarms: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches AWS IoT SiteWise MCP Server. Nothing to install.
get_active_alarms is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the get_active_alarms rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for get_active_alarms. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
get_active_alarms is provided by the AWS IoT SiteWise MCP Server MCP server (awslabs.aws-iot-sitewise-mcp-server). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.