CVE-2026-13063 in MongoDB
Summary
by MITRE • 07/22/2026
An authenticated user with standard read/write privileges can cause the mongod process to terminate due to an out-of-memory condition by sending a crafted aggregation command. MongoDB's libmongocrypt library insufficiently validates payload-supplied values, which can result in an excessively large memory allocation.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/23/2026
This vulnerability represents a critical memory exhaustion issue within MongoDB's aggregation framework that can be exploited by authenticated users with basic read/write permissions. The flaw exists in the libmongocrypt library component responsible for encryption operations during aggregation pipeline execution. When a malicious user submits a specially crafted aggregation command, the system fails to properly validate input parameters that control memory allocation behavior, leading to unbounded memory consumption that ultimately causes the mongod process to crash and terminate.
The technical root cause stems from inadequate validation of payload-supplied values within the encryption library's handling of aggregation operations. This vulnerability operates at the intersection of data processing and memory management, where user-controlled input directly influences the amount of memory allocated during query execution. The flaw allows for excessive memory allocation that can quickly exhaust available system resources, creating a denial-of-service condition that affects database availability and potentially disrupts business operations. This issue is particularly concerning because it requires only standard user privileges to exploit, making it accessible to any authenticated database user.
The operational impact extends beyond simple service disruption as this vulnerability can lead to data unavailability, potential data loss during process restarts, and significant operational downtime for affected systems. Database administrators may experience unexpected service interruptions that require manual intervention to restore normal operations, while monitoring systems might generate false positive alerts about system resource exhaustion. The vulnerability affects MongoDB deployments across various versions where libmongocrypt is utilized for encryption operations, particularly impacting environments with encryption-at-rest configurations.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patching of affected MongoDB versions and implementing proper input validation controls within aggregation pipelines. Organizations should consider implementing additional monitoring for unusual memory allocation patterns and limit user privileges where possible to reduce the attack surface. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-122 (Heap Overflow) and CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption) categories, while also mapping to ATT&CK techniques involving privilege escalation and denial-of-service attacks. Regular security assessments should verify that encryption libraries properly validate all input parameters and implement appropriate resource limits to prevent similar issues in other database components.