dbcve.org
CursorApplication · Anysphere

CVE-2025-54131

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.3 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Cursor is a code editor built for programming with AI. In versions below 1.3, an attacker can bypass the allow list in auto-run mode with a backtick (`) or $(cmd). If a user has swapped Cursor from its default settings (requiring approval for every terminal call) to an allowlist, an attacker can execute arbitrary command execution outside of the allowlist without user approval. An attacker can trigger this vulnerability if chained with indirect prompt injection. This is fixed in version 1.3.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Cursor versions below 1.3 contain a vulnerability in auto-run mode where the allowlist can be bypassed using backtick (`) or $(cmd) command substitution syntax. An attacker with the ability to inject prompts (indirect prompt injection) can execute arbitrary commands outside the configured allowlist without user approval, achieving unauthenticated command execution.

MitigationUpgrade Cursor to version 1.3 or later. Additionally, review and sanitize any external inputs that could contribute to prompt injection, and avoid swapping from the default approval-required terminal settings to allowlist mode if possible.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
CursorApplication
Affected:< 1.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Cursor version
    Open Cursor, click on the profile/settings icon in the bottom-left, then go to 'Version' under the Cursor Settings section to see the exact version number
    Affected if version is below 1.3 (e.g., 1.2.x, 1.1.x, etc.)
  2. Check if auto-run mode is enabled
    Go to Cursor Settings > Terminal > look for the 'Auto-run mode' or 'Approval mode' setting. This is typically found under security or terminal settings.
    Affected if auto-run mode is enabled (mode is set to auto-run rather than approval-required)
  3. Confirm allowlist mode is in use
    In the same terminal security settings, verify if the 'Allowlist' option is selected instead of 'Ask for approval' or 'Approval required'
    Affected if allowlist mode is selected as the execution policy
  4. Verify command substitution can trigger bypass
    This is the vulnerability mechanism: if an attacker can inject prompts containing backtick (`) characters or $(cmd) syntax into Cursor's context, these can execute commands outside the allowlist. Check if external data sources (documents, files, web content) could provide input to Cursor's AI prompts.
    Affected if external or untrusted input can reach Cursor's prompt context while using allowlist mode in auto-run

A user is affected if their installed Cursor version is below 1.3 AND they have auto-run mode enabled with allowlist configuration, making them vulnerable to command substitution bypass via indirect prompt injection.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.3 or later
Fixed in 1.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Cursor to version 1.3 or later. Additionally, review and sanitize any external inputs that could contribute to prompt injection, and avoid swapping from the default approval-required terminal settings to allowlist mode if possible.

Recommended fix High confidence

Cursor version 1.3 or later

  1. 1. Open Cursor editor
  2. 2. Navigate to the settings or preferences menu
  3. 3. Check the current version of Cursor (help/about section)
  4. 4. Download Cursor version 1.3 or later from the official source
  5. 5. Install the update following standard installation procedures
  6. 6. Verify the installation completed successfully by checking the version number
Caveat No breaking changes documented; this is a security patch upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Cursor Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-54131 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-54131 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data