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NVD / CVE Program· CNA mongodb

CVE-2021-20334: Local privilege escalation in MongoDB Compass for Windows

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 31/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.35% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: MongoDB Inc. MongoDB Compass 1.25.0.
  • Severity is disputed: the assigning authority (CNA) scores it 4.8, NVD 7.8.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to MongoDB Inc. MongoDB Compass 1.25.0 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

A malicious 3rd party with local access to the Windows machine where MongoDB Compass is installed can execute arbitrary software with the privileges of the user who is running MongoDB Compass. This issue affects: MongoDB Inc. MongoDB Compass 1.x version 1.3.0 on Windows and later versions; 1.x versions prior to 1.25.0 on Windows.

HighCVSS 7.8 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Apr 6, 2021
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.3% · 29th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

31

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
31 / 40 · 7.8 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.3%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
7.8
CNA · mongodb
4.8
3.0 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2021-20334

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
mongodbcompass
microsoftwindows

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • mongodb compass1.3.0 and later · before 1.25.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (mongodb). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • MongoDB Inc. MongoDB Compass

    • 1.3.0 and later · before 1.x*affectedfixed in 1.25.0

Same product

mongodb: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2024-6376ejson shell parser in MongoDB Compass maybe bypassed
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2026-113870Improper Encoding of Server-Supplied JavaScript Values in MongoDB Compass BSON Parsing
    34Monitor
  • CVE-2026-14881Compass connection import allows to override OIDC browser open command (usually set through settings), allowing for arbitrary shell commands execution when conn
    33Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • Later →CVE-2024-3371Apr 24, 2024 · Insufficient validation of external input in Compass may enable MITM attacks
    27Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2025-1755Feb 27, 2025 · MongoDB Compass may be susceptible to local privilege escalation in Windows
    31Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-9101May 20, 2026 · Prototype pollution in csv parsing
    21Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
MongoDB Inc. MongoDB Compass1.25.0Vendor (CNA)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-269 · Improper Privilege Management

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

To simplify setup, a service account is granted broad, cluster-wide permissions. The principle of least privilege is skipped during installation.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-269 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

yaml
kind: ClusterRolerules:  - apiGroups: ["*"]    resources: ["*"]    verbs: ["*"]

Fixed

yaml
kind: Rolemetadata:  namespace: lodos-systemrules:  - apiGroups: ["apps"]    resources: ["deployments"]    verbs: ["get", "list", "update"]

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records