AI agents invoke stop_sshuttle 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.
This tool executes a command to stop a background process (sshuttle), which is an external operation that triggers a system-level action. While the process termination itself is not destructive (the tunnel is reversible by restarting), it is an Execute action as it actively controls running external operations whose effects depend on which process is targeted.
From the tool's definition Tool name is 'stop_sshuttle' and description states 'Terminate a background sshuttle process.' The action terminates a running network tunneling process.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access stop_sshuttle gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Pentester-MCP, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for stop_sshuttle:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"stop_sshuttle": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "stop_sshuttle_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 10,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}stop_sshuttle stays usable, but rate-capped — a runaway agent can't fire it dozens of times a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Terminate a background sshuttle process. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the Pentester-MCP MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.
Register the Pentester- MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for stop_sshuttle: 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 Pentester-MCP. Nothing to install.
stop_sshuttle is a Execute tool with high risk. Execute tools should be rate-limited and have argument validation enabled.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the stop_sshuttle 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 stop_sshuttle. 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.
stop_sshuttle is provided by the Pentester- MCP server (halilkirazkaya/pentester-mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from Pentester-MCP, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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337 Pentester-MCP tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.