OX Security research: 15,465 MCP servers lack consistent governance signals

OX Security's September 2026 study of 15,465 servers across three public MCP registries shows the ecosystem lacks consistent authorization models, operator identity, and lifecycle accountability. Infrastructure analysis was based on 5,095 unique hostnames among them: 15.6% (796) resolved outside the United States, 2.3% no longer resolved, 0.45% were on home networks or consumer-grade tunneling services, and 6 expired domains could be purchased for $4 to $12 per year. Registry inclusion is only a discovery convenience and does not constitute a security guarantee; enterprises should treat every MCP server connection as a third-party code and data dependency and govern it through allowlists rather than developer discretion.