CVE-2025-1692 in mongosh
Summary
by MITRE • 02/27/2025
The MongoDB Shell may be susceptible to control character injection where an attacker with control of the user’s clipboard could manipulate them to paste text into mongosh that evaluates arbitrary code. Control characters in the pasted text can be used to obfuscate malicious code. This issue affects mongosh versions prior to 2.3.9
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/22/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2025-1692 represents a critical control character injection flaw within the MongoDB Shell environment known as mongosh. This security weakness arises from the shell's insufficient sanitization of clipboard content when users paste text into the interactive interface. The vulnerability stems from the shell's failure to properly validate and filter control characters present in pasted content, creating an attack vector where malicious actors can manipulate user interactions through clipboard manipulation techniques. The flaw specifically impacts versions of mongosh prior to 2.3.9, indicating that this represents a regression or oversight in input validation mechanisms that should have been implemented to prevent arbitrary code execution through clipboard-based attacks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability leverages the inherent capabilities of control characters within text processing environments to alter the execution flow of commands. When users paste content containing specially crafted control sequences, these characters can be interpreted by the mongosh shell as command delimiters or execution modifiers, effectively bypassing normal input validation procedures. This type of injection occurs because the shell processes pasted content without adequate sanitization of non-printable characters, allowing attackers to embed malicious payloads that appear benign but contain sequences capable of triggering unintended code evaluation. The vulnerability operates at the input processing layer of the shell, where control characters such as carriage returns, line feeds, or other escape sequences can be used to manipulate command execution flow and potentially execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the shell user.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to database administrators and developers who regularly use the MongoDB Shell for database management tasks. The attack scenario requires an attacker to gain control of a user's clipboard, which can be achieved through various techniques including malicious browser extensions, keyloggers, or social engineering attacks that trick users into pasting malicious content. The impact extends beyond simple code execution to potentially compromise entire database systems, as the shell typically operates with elevated privileges and can execute commands that modify database structure, access sensitive data, or perform administrative functions. This vulnerability can be particularly dangerous in environments where database administrators frequently paste commands or configurations from external sources, making it a prime target for sophisticated attacks that exploit human factors alongside technical weaknesses.
The mitigation strategy for this vulnerability centers on upgrading to mongosh version 2.3.9 or later, which includes proper input sanitization and control character filtering mechanisms. Organizations should implement comprehensive patch management procedures to ensure all instances of the MongoDB Shell are updated promptly, as this vulnerability affects the core interactive shell functionality rather than specific database operations. Additionally, security awareness training should emphasize the importance of verifying clipboard content before pasting, particularly when working with database management tools. Network segmentation and privilege separation measures can provide additional defense-in-depth layers, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect unusual command patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-74 and CWE-117 categories related to improper neutralization of special elements used in data queries and improper neutralization of input during web output, respectively, and corresponds to ATT&CK techniques involving input validation bypass and privilege escalation through command injection.