AI agents call ssh_describe_host to retrieve information from MCP SSH Orchestrator without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.
This tool retrieves host metadata/configuration and returns it as JSON. No side effects, no command execution, no data modification. It is a read-only informational query similar to 'get' or 'fetch' operations. The low severity reflects that host definitions are typically infrastructure metadata; misuse would at worst enable reconnaissance but not direct harm to systems.
From the tool's definition Tool name 'ssh_describe_host' and description 'Return host definition in JSON' indicate a query operation that retrieves and returns existing host configuration data without modification or execution.
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access ssh_describe_host gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and MCP SSH Orchestrator, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for ssh_describe_host:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"ssh_describe_host": {}
}
}ssh_describe_host is read-only, so it stays allowed — but everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
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Return host definition in JSON. It is categorised as a Read tool in the MCP SSH Orchestrator MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.
Register the MCP SSH Orchestrator MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for ssh_describe_host: 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 MCP SSH Orchestrator. Nothing to install.
ssh_describe_host 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 ssh_describe_host 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 ssh_describe_host. 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.
ssh_describe_host is provided by the MCP SSH Orchestrator MCP server (samerfarida/mcp-ssh-orchestrator). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from MCP SSH Orchestrator, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
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13 MCP SSH Orchestrator tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.