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CVE-2025-14847 represents a critical unauthenticated vulnerability in MongoDB Server that enables remote attackers to extract sensitive heap memory through exploitation of a flaw in Zlib packet decompression. First disclosed on December 15, 2025, this MongoDB vulnerability stems from improper validation of compressed data lengths during MongoDB zlib compression handling, causing the MongoDB server to inadvertently return uninitialized memory contents to attackers. The leaked memory may contain highly sensitive information including database credentials, cryptographic keys, authentication tokens, and personally identifiable information (PII).
This MongoDB memory leak vulnerability affects all major MongoDB version branches spanning from MongoDB 3.6 through MongoDB 8.2, representing an extensive attack surface across millions of MongoDB deployments worldwide. The MongoDB Server vulnerability poses severe risks particularly to internet-facing MongoDB databases and cloud-hosted MongoDB instances that remain exposed to untrusted networks. The unauthenticated nature of CVE-2025-14847 allows remote attackers to exploit MongoDB servers without requiring valid credentials, significantly lowering the exploitation complexity.
With public proof-of-concept exploits now circulating for this MongoDB vulnerability, the risk of widespread exploitation has substantially increased. Organizations running vulnerable MongoDB Server versions face immediate data exposure risks and must prioritize remediation. MongoDB has released patched versions including MongoDB 8.2.3, 8.0.17, 7.0.28, 6.0.27, 5.0.32, and 4.4.30 to address CVE-2025-14847. Organizations unable to immediately upgrade MongoDB instances should implement temporary mitigation by disabling zlib compression in MongoDB server configuration to block this critical memory leak attack vector.
CVE-2025-14847 is an unauthenticated memory leak vulnerability affecting MongoDB Server’s implementation of zlib compressed protocol headers. The MongoDB vulnerability exists in how MongoDB Server processes zlib compression during client-server communication. Mismatched length fields in the zlib compression handling mechanism cause the MongoDB server to inadvertently return uninitialized heap memory in responses to client requests, creating a critical information disclosure vulnerability in MongoDB deployments.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this MongoDB vulnerability by crafting and sending specially manipulated requests with malformed zlib compressed protocol headers to any reachable MongoDB instance. The MongoDB server processes these malicious requests and responds with memory contents that may include previously handled query data, cached information from other MongoDB sessions, sensitive MongoDB configuration data, and potentially database credentials or authentication tokens stored in MongoDB server memory.
The exploitation of CVE-2025-14847 requires no authentication to the MongoDB server and is classified as low complexity, making it particularly dangerous for internet-exposed MongoDB deployments and MongoDB instances reachable from untrusted networks. The MongoDB vulnerability affects extensive MongoDB Server version ranges across multiple major releases, including MongoDB versions 8.2.0 through 8.2.2, MongoDB 8.0.0 through 8.0.16, MongoDB 7.0.0 through 7.0.27, MongoDB 6.0.0 through 6.0.26, MongoDB 5.0.0 through 5.0.31, MongoDB 4.4.0 through 4.4.29, all MongoDB Server 4.2 versions, all MongoDB Server 4.0 versions, and all MongoDB Server 3.6 versions. These MongoDB releases are widely deployed across on-premise MongoDB infrastructures and cloud MongoDB environments.
Active exploitation of CVE-2025-14847 has been confirmed in the wild. Public proof-of-concept exploits are now available, with exploitation observed shortly after disclosure. Shodan data indicates approximately 200,000 MongoDB instances are exposed on the public internet, with the United States, China, and Germany hosting the highest concentrations. Research data indicates thatapproximately 42% of cloud environments have at least one MongoDB instance running a vulnerable version. Organizations should immediately upgrade to the patched versions: 8.2.3, 8.0.17, 7.0.28, 6.0.27, 5.0.32, or 4.4.30. If upgrading is not immediately possible, disable Zlib compression in the server configuration to mitigate the risk.
The only permanent fix for CVE-2025-14847 is upgrading MongoDB instances to the latest patched MongoDB releases: MongoDB 8.2.3 or later, MongoDB 8.0.17 or later, MongoDB 7.0.28 or later, MongoDB 6.0.27 or later, MongoDB 5.0.32 or later, or MongoDB 4.4.30 or later. Organizations running MongoDB versions 4.2 and older must recognize these MongoDB releases are End-of-Life and will not receive patches for CVE-2025-14847, necessitating immediate migration planning to supported MongoDB versions to eliminate this critical memory leak vulnerability risk.
Organizations unable to immediately upgrade MongoDB instances should block the CVE-2025-14847 attack vector by removing zlib from MongoDB server compression settings. Update the mongod.conf configuration file to explicitly set net.compression.compressors to include only snappy and zstd (explicitly excluding zlib compression), then restart the MongoDB service to apply this configuration change. This temporary MongoDB mitigation eliminates the vulnerable zlib decompression code path exploited by CVE-2025-14847.
Since CVE-2025-14847 is an unauthenticated remote exploit targeting MongoDB servers, organizations must ensure MongoDB database port 27017 is never exposed to the public internet. Implement strict firewall rules, VPN requirements, or cloud Security Groups to allow MongoDB connections only from trusted application IP addresses, preventing external attackers from establishing the initial MongoDB connection required for CVE-2025-14847 exploitation.
Configure MongoDB logging systems or SIEM tools to alert on unexpected MongoDB connection drops or zlib decompression errors, which can indicate active CVE-2025-14847 exploitation attempts against MongoDB servers. While successful memory leak exploitation may be silent, repeated protocol errors or crashes in the mongod process are strong indicators of active scanning or probing for CVE-2025-14847 vulnerability.
Because CVE-2025-14847 leaks uninitialized heap memory from MongoDB servers, sensitive data including database passwords and session tokens residing in MongoDB RAM may have been exposed during the vulnerability window. Once MongoDB servers have been patched or mitigated against CVE-2025-14847, organizations should rotate all MongoDB database user credentials and encryption keys to ensure no potentially stolen secrets from the memory leak remain valid for future unauthorized MongoDB access.
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