CVE-2020-7921 Administrative action may disable enforcement of per-user IP whitelisting
A user with valid credentials can bypass IP whitelisting protections in MongoDB Server due to improper state serialization after administrative actions.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2020-7921?
CVE-2020-7921 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Mongodb Mongodb, published on 6 May 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
Improper serialization of internal state in the authorization subsystem in MongoDB Server's authorization subsystem permits a user with valid credentials to bypass IP whitelisting protection mechanisms following administrative action. This issue affects MongoDB Server v4.2 versions prior to 4.2.3; MongoDB Server v4.0 versions prior to 4.0.15; MongoDB Server v4.3 versions prior to 4.3.3and MongoDB Server v3.6 versions prior to 3.6.18.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-7921?
1 open source package ship an affected version, including mongodb. It affects 1 product.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
mongodb Bitnami | From 3.6.0 | 3.6.18, 4.0.15, 4.2.3, 4.3.3 |
Products include Mongodb Mongodb.
How do I fix CVE-2020-7921?
Upgrade mongodb to a fixed version for your release line: 3.6.18, 4.0.15, 4.2.3 or 4.3.3.
Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.
Is CVE-2020-7921 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-7921 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Mongodb Mongodb
- CVE-2025-14847 MongoDB and MongoDB Server Improper Handling of Length Parameter Inconsistency
- CVE-2026-82067 Auth bypass in MongoDB Server
- CVE-2026-13072 MongoDB Improper Input Validation in Compute Mode External Data Processing Leading to Memory Corruption
- CVE-2017-15535 Denial of service in n/a
- CVE-2026-18691 Improper Authentication in MongoDB Intra-Cluster Connections Allows Credential Exposure
Sources
Also known as BIT-mongodb-2020-7921, GHSA-4jqr-h7hr-v5mg, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-7921.