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MongoDB Credentials

MongoDB credentials are used to authenticate and authorize access to MongoDB databases. These credentials typically consist of a username and password or an API key that grants access to the database services. Exposure of these credentials is a significant security concern as it can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data stored within the database, potentially resulting in data breaches, data loss, or unauthorized data manipulation.

How Does It Look​

MongoDB credentials can appear in various contexts, such as:

  • Environment variables:

    export MONGODB_URI="mongodb+srv://user:[PASSWORD]@cluster0.mongodb.net/myDatabase"

  • Configuration files (JSON, YAML, .env):

    {
      "mongodb": {
        "uri": "mongodb+srv://user:[PASSWORD]@cluster0.mongodb.net/myDatabase"
      }
    }

  • Code snippets:

    const MongoClient = require('mongodb').MongoClient;
    const uri = "mongodb+srv://user:[PASSWORD]@cluster0.mongodb.net/myDatabase";

  • Connection strings:

    mongodb+srv://user:[PASSWORD]@cluster0.mongodb.net/myDatabase

Severity​

  • 🔴 Critical

The severity of exposed MongoDB credentials is critical because they provide direct access to the database, potentially allowing an attacker to read, modify, or delete data. The blast radius can be extensive, affecting all data within the database and any applications relying on it.

What Can an Attacker Do?​

With immediate access to MongoDB, an attacker can perform several malicious actions:

An attacker with these credentials can immediately access the database, potentially leading to unauthorized data access and manipulation.

Key actions an attacker can perform:

  • Delete or modify data (if the credential has write permissions)
  • Access billing information (if the account has billing scope enabled)
  • Spin up resources for cryptomining (if compute permissions are granted)
  • Exfiltrate sensitive data (if read access is enabled)

Additionally, an attacker could escalate their access by exploiting other vulnerabilities within the database or the connected applications, potentially moving laterally within the network.

Real-World Impact​

The exposure of MongoDB credentials poses significant business risks, including:

The primary impact is the unauthorized access to sensitive data, which can lead to severe consequences.

Potential consequences include:

  • Data Exposure: Customer information, intellectual property (if the credential has read access to sensitive data)
  • Financial Loss: Increased cloud costs due to unauthorized resource usage (if billing/resource creation is permitted)
  • Operational Disruption: Application downtime or data integrity issues (if the attacker has delete/modify permissions)
  • Reputational Damage: Loss of customer trust and brand reputation

In the worst-case scenario, the exposure could lead to a cascading effect, compromising other systems and services connected to the database.

Prerequisites for Exploitation​

To exploit exposed MongoDB credentials, an attacker needs:

  • Network access to the MongoDB instance
  • Knowledge of the database endpoint and any required account IDs
  • Bypassing any rate limits or IP restrictions that may be in place

How to Verify If It's Active​

To verify if a MongoDB credential is active, use the following command:

mongo "mongodb+srv://[USER]:[PASSWORD]@[HOST]/myDatabase"

Valid credential response: Successful connection to the database with access to collections and data.

Invalid/expired credential response: Authentication failure message indicating incorrect username or password.

Detection Patterns​

Common Variable Names:

  • MONGODB_URI
  • MONGO_URL
  • MONGODB_CONNECTION_STRING
  • DB_URI
  • DATABASE_URL
  • MONGO_CONNECTION

File Locations:

  • .env
  • config.json
  • settings.yaml
  • database.js
  • appsettings.json

Regex Pattern:

mongodb\+srv:\/\/[a-zA-Z0-9]+:[^@]+@[^/]+\/[a-zA-Z0-9]+

Remediation Steps​

  1. Revoke immediately - Go to MongoDB Atlas > Security > Database Access and delete the compromised user.
  2. Audit access logs - Review MongoDB audit logs for unauthorized queries or data exports during the exposure window.
  3. Assess blast radius - Identify all systems, applications, and environments that used the exposed credential.
  4. Rotate credential - Create a new database user in MongoDB Atlas with least-privilege permissions.
  5. Update dependent systems - Deploy the new credential to all applications and update CI/CD pipelines securely.
  6. Harden access controls - Enable IP allowlisting in MongoDB Atlas and require TLS connections.
  7. Implement secrets management - Migrate credentials to a secrets manager (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager) to prevent hardcoding.
  8. Add detection controls - Set up pre-commit hooks and repository scanning to catch credential leaks before they reach production.

Credential exposures often go undetected for extended periods, increasing the window for exploitation. As a long-term strategy, plan to establish an internal process or engage an external vendor for continuous external exposure monitoring. This helps identify leaked secrets across public repositories, paste sites, dark web forums, and other external sources before attackers can leverage them. Proactive detection and rapid response are essential to minimizing the impact of credential leaks.

References​