A critical vulnerability has emerged in one of the world’s most widely utilized database management systems, prompting urgent action from government agencies and enterprises. Less than a week remains before a federal remediation deadline imposed by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
The vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-14847 and dubbed “MongoBleed,” was revealed shortly after Christmas. It affects systems that utilize MongoDB for data storage and management, including user records, internal documents, and application-related data. This flaw is particularly concerning because it impacts databases employing a specific data-compression feature that can be accessed over a network.
Cybersecurity firm Resecurity has reported that threat actors are actively scanning the internet for vulnerable systems, with both IPv4 and IPv6 address ranges being targeted globally. Ransomware groups and other malicious entities are seeking to exploit unpatched databases to steal sensitive information. Notably, all MongoDB versions from 3.6 onward are at risk if they remain unpatched. The vulnerability is remote and can be exploited without any authentication, meaning attackers only require network access to the database.
Exploitation of the flaw could lead to leaks of sensitive system memory, which threatens both publicly exposed databases and those accessible internally, potentially enabling lateral movement across networks. Resecurity’s telemetry indicates that tens of thousands of vulnerable MongoDB databases are present worldwide.
The highest number of exposed systems has been recorded in China, followed by the United States and Germany. Significant exposure has also been reported in Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Russia, France, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
The public sector faces an especially acute risk due to the widespread use of MongoDB for modernizing legacy systems and managing data-intensive applications. In the U.S., 13 federal cabinet-level agencies and all branches of the Department of Defense utilize MongoDB, alongside civilian agencies like NOAA, the FDA, and the Department of Health and Human Services. As of May 2025, MongoDB was the fifth most popular database software globally, with applications spanning government, defense, healthcare, and critical infrastructure sectors.
CISA has now added CVE-2025-14847 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, mandating that all federal civilian executive branch agencies address the flaw by January 19. Experts are urging organizations beyond the federal government to heed this deadline, viewing it as a crucial signal of the urgency involved. The ongoing mass scanning and the rapidly diminishing patch window heighten concerns that unpatched MongoDB systems could quickly become attractive targets for data theft and ransomware attacks.
