start_ncat_listener

What start_ncat_listener does on Pentester-MCP

AI agents invoke start_ncat_listener to trigger actions in Pentester-MCP. What it does depends on the arguments the agent supplies, and its effects often reach beyond the immediate call: builds kicked off, notifications sent, workflows started.

Why start_ncat_listener is rated High

This tool initiates a network listener, which is an active operation that establishes listening network sockets and can interact with external systems. The effects depend heavily on how an AI agent configures it (port, protocol, handler) and what connects to it, making it an Execute class tool rather than Read (no passive query) or Write (network listeners have active, runtime effects beyond simple data…

From the tool's definition Tool name 'start_ncat_listener' indicates launching Ncat (network utility) in listener mode. Ncat is a networking tool capable of setting up TCP/UDP listeners that can execute commands, receive reverse shells, or relay network traffic.

The rule that runs start_ncat_listener safely

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Pentester-MCP, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For start_ncat_listener, this is the rule to start with:

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "start_ncat_listener": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "start_ncat_listener_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 10,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Questions about start_ncat_listener