acknowledge-alarms

THE RISK

High Risk

Why acknowledge-alarms needs a policy

Acknowledging alarms is an external operational action on a SCADA/industrial control system — it changes the state of active alarms in the real world. While it does not delete data, it triggers an operational change in an industrial environment (WinCC Unified SCADA), which can have safety implications.

From the tool's definition Acknowledges one or more active alarms based on their identifiers

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access acknowledge-alarms gives an agent:

POLICY

How to control acknowledge-alarms

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and WinCC Unified MCP XT, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for acknowledge-alarms:

policy.json

{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "acknowledge-alarms": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "acknowledge-alarms_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 10,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

acknowledge-alarms 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.

Create a free account and register WinCC Unified MCP XT — nothing to install.
Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.

RATE-LIMIT THIS TOOL →

Free to start. No card required.

EXPLORE

Related tools and policies

More WinCC Unified MCP XT tools

Execute reset-alarms Resets one or more active alarms based on their identifiers. Write write-tag-values Updates tag values based on a provided list of TagValueInput entries. Read browse-objects Retrieves tags, elements, types, alarms, logging tags, and other named objects based on sp Read get-active-alarms Retrieves active alarms from the specified systems. Read get-logged-alarms Retrieves historical (logged) alarms from the storage system. Read get-logged-tag-values Retrieves historical tag values from the database for the specified tags or logging tags. Read get-tag-values Retrieves tag values from WinCC Unified based on the provided names or filter criteria. Other login-user Authenticates a user in WinCC Unified using a provided username and password.

All 9 WinCC Unified MCP XT tools →

Execute tools on other servers

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Go deeper

High-risk tools in WinCC Unified MCP XT → Every high-risk tool this server exposes, in one view.
All high-risk MCP tools → Every high-risk tool across the catalogue, and the policy pattern that contains them.
The MCP Attack Database → Documented attack patterns against MCP deployments — and the policies that stop them.
Agent sandbox → Bounding what an agent can execute and where the boundary should sit.
Least privilege for MCP → Granting agents the minimum tool surface the task needs.
Rate Limiting MCP Tool Calls: A Practical Guide →
MCP Security: Why Prompt Guardrails Aren't Enough →

FAQ

Questions about acknowledge-alarms

What does the acknowledge-alarms tool do? +

Acknowledges one or more active alarms based on their identifiers. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the WinCC Unified MCP XT MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.

How do I enforce a policy on acknowledge-alarms? +

Register the WinCC Unified MCP XT MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for acknowledge-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 WinCC Unified MCP XT. Nothing to install.

What risk level is acknowledge-alarms? +

acknowledge-alarms is a Execute tool with high risk. Execute tools should be rate-limited and have argument validation enabled.

Can I rate-limit acknowledge-alarms? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the acknowledge-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.

How do I block acknowledge-alarms completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for acknowledge-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.

What MCP server provides acknowledge-alarms? +

acknowledge-alarms is provided by the WinCC Unified MCP XT MCP server (mrwan84/wincc-unified-mcp-xt). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every WinCC Unified MCP XT tool call.

Start from WinCC Unified MCP XT, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.

CHECK YOUR STACK →