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CursorApplication · Anysphere

CVE-2025-54136

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-02
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 1.2.4 and below, attackers can achieve remote and persistent code execution by modifying an already trusted MCP configuration file inside a shared GitHub repository or editing the file locally on the target's machine. Once a collaborator accepts a harmless MCP, the attacker can silently swap it for a malicious command (e.g., calc.exe) without triggering any warning or re-prompt. If an attacker has write permissions on a user's active branches of a source repository that contains existing MCP servers the user has previously approved, or allows an attacker has arbitrary file-write locally, the attacker can achieve arbitrary code execution. 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 · high confidence

In Cursor 1.2.4 and below, the MCP (Model Context Protocol) configuration system fails to re-prompt or warn users when a previously trusted MCP configuration file is modified. An attacker with write access to a shared GitHub repository's active branches (containing existing approved MCP servers) or local file system access can silently swap benign MCP commands for malicious ones (e.g., calc.exe), achieving arbitrary code execution on the victim's machine without any user interaction.

MitigationUpdate Cursor to version 1.3 or later. Review and audit all MCP configuration files in shared repositories and local machines for any unauthorized modifications.

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. Check installed Cursor version
    Run 'cursor --version' from command line or open Cursor and go to Help > About to view the version number
    Affected if Version is below 1.3 (e.g., 1.2.4, 1.2.3, etc.)
  2. Locate MCP configuration files
    Look for .mcp.json, mcp.config, or similar MCP configuration files in your user configuration directory, project directories, or shared repository roots where Cursor is used
    Affected if MCP configuration files exist in your environment
  3. Inspect MCP server commands
    Open each MCP configuration file and examine the 'command', 'args', or 'server' entries for paths to local executables (e.g., .exe, .sh, .bat files) or external scripts
    Affected if MCP configurations reference local executables or scripts that could be replaced
  4. Verify file integrity of MCP configs
    Check the last modification timestamp of each MCP configuration file using file system properties or 'ls -la' / 'dir' commands. Compare against expected modification dates or check version control history if available
    Affected if MCP config files have unexpected modification dates or show modifications you did not author
  5. Audit shared repository MCP configs
    If using shared repositories, review all MCP configuration files in those repositories for any unexpected changes in command paths or server definitions between commits
    Affected if Shared repository MCP configs contain command paths that differ from the expected baseline

You are affected if Cursor version is below 1.3 and you have MCP configuration files with external command references that could be silently modified by an attacker.

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

Update Cursor to version 1.3 or later. Review and audit all MCP configuration files in shared repositories and local machines for any unauthorized modifications.

Recommended fix High confidence

Cursor 1.3

  1. Verify current Cursor version by checking Help > About or running cursor --version
  2. Download Cursor version 1.3 or later from the official cursor.sh website
  3. Install the update - on Windows this typically runs the installer which will upgrade the existing installation
  4. After upgrading, verify the new version is installed: Help > About should show version 1.3 or higher
  5. Review existing MCP configuration files in your projects to ensure no malicious modifications were made before the upgrade

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

Fix this in Cursor Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-54136 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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