Medium Risk

store-vm-credentials

Store ansible-admin credentials for a VM in context

How to control store-vm-credentials ↓

What store-vm-credentials does on Ansible

AI agents use store-vm-credentials to create or update resources in Ansible — usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Ansible environment.

Medium Risk

Why store-vm-credentials needs a policy

This tool writes sensitive credential data (ansible-admin credentials) into a context/store. It is a Write operation rather than Read, but the high severity comes from the fact that misuse could expose or misplace privileged credentials for VM administration.

From the tool's definition 'Store ansible-admin credentials for a VM in context'

Risk signalsAdmin/system-level operation

Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access store-vm-credentials gives an agent:

How to control store-vm-credentials

PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and Ansible, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for store-vm-credentials:

policy.json
{
  "version": "1",
  "default": "deny",
  "tools": {
    "store-vm-credentials": {
      "limits": [
        {
          "counter": "store-vm-credentials_rate",
          "window": "minute",
          "max": 30,
          "scope": "grant"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

store-vm-credentials stays usable, but capped — an agent stuck in a loop can't make hundreds of changes a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.

  1. Create a free account and register Ansible — nothing to install.
  2. Add this policy — paste it, or build it visually.
  3. Point your MCP client (Claude, Cursor, anything) at your gateway URL.
LIMIT THIS TOOL →

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Related tools and policies

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Questions about store-vm-credentials

What does the store-vm-credentials tool do? +

Store ansible-admin credentials for a VM in context. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Ansible MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.

How do I enforce a policy on store-vm-credentials? +

Register the Ansible MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for store-vm-credentials: 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 Ansible. Nothing to install.

What risk level is store-vm-credentials? +

store-vm-credentials is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.

Can I rate-limit store-vm-credentials? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the store-vm-credentials 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 store-vm-credentials completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for store-vm-credentials. 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 store-vm-credentials? +

store-vm-credentials is provided by the Ansible MCP server (washyu/ansible-mcp-server). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.

Enforce policy on every Ansible tool call.

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

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