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System collection contents readable through a database change stream with showSystemEvents

2.3LowCNA
Exploited
No known exploitation
Fix
Fixed in 9.0.7, 8.3.16, 8.0.37, 7.0.48
Who is exposed
Not reported

Do first: Upgrade to a fixed version: 9.0.7, 8.3.16, 8.0.37, 7.0.48.

Published
Last modified
Reference
Last checked
22/100 · provisional
None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub

Summary

A user with basic read-tier database privileges can, over the network, use an option on a server-side change notification feature to read the contents of certain restricted internal collections that they are normally refused access to. The bug arises because the privilege check for this feature only looks at the target namespace and ignores the option, so no extra permission is needed.

Written by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 from the sources below. Verify against them.

Read the original description

A user with basic read-tier database privileges can use an option on a server-side data-change notification feature to receive the contents of certain restricted internal collections that the same user is refused on a direct read. The privilege check for the notification feature is derived only from the target namespace and does not account for the option, so no additional permission is required. This may result in unintended access to data stored in those internal collections.

cve.now Index

22Pcve.now Index 22 of 100 · methodology v3 · provisional
  • Exploitation?/40Unknown. No CISA SSVC exploitation rating yet
  • Exposure3/25Reachable over the network · Unknown: No advisory context yet
  • Reach17/20Affects MongoDB (a widely deployed server, runtime, framework or database)
  • Severity2.3/10CVSS 2.3
  • No patch0/5No signal

What would change the score

  • Would score about 77 if added to CISA KEV
  • Would score about 72 if CISA's SSVC rates exploitation active
  • Would score about 41 if advisories confirm default setups are exposed

What to do

  • Upgrade to a fixed version: 9.0.7, 8.3.16, 8.0.37, 7.0.48.

Check your systems with an agent

Paste this into a coding or ops agent. It checks your systems read-only and reports a table per asset.

Check whether my systems are affected by CVE-2026-120816 (System collection contents readable through a database change stream with showSystemEvents), using the cve.now data below.

Rules: work read-only. Do not run exploit code, proof-of-concept scripts or scanners that send attack payloads, and do not change any configuration, package, image or deployment. Report findings only.

What cve.now has for CVE-2026-120816 (entry last updated 2026-11-10):
Affected:
- MongoDB MongoDB Server: from 9.0.0, fixed in 9.0.7; from 8.3.0, fixed in 8.3.16; from 8.0.0, fixed in 8.0.37; from 7.0.0, fixed in 7.0.48
Fixed versions: 9.0.7, 8.3.16, 8.0.37, 7.0.48.
Setup: unknown whether the bug needs a non-default feature or setting. Check the advisory.
CISA KEV: CVE-2026-120816 is not listed as of cve.now's last read.
This KEV status is for CVE-2026-120816 only. If you also check another CVE, look up its own KEV status; never assume it from this one.

How to check:
- Installed software: check what is actually running, not what a repo declares. Read the version from each host, container image and Kubernetes node (the binary's version output, the OS package database, image layers), and check whether the conditions above hold there. Distribution packages may carry a backported fix under an older version number; confirm against the distribution's own advisory.

Verify against the linked advisories before concluding, and cite the date you read each one:
- https://jira.mongodb.org/browse/SERVER-135203
Do not conclude an asset is unaffected unless you checked it and the evidence covers both its version and the conditions above. If you could not check something, mark it unknown and say what is missing.

Report a table with one row per asset and these columns: Asset | Version or build | Status (affected, fixed, not applicable, unknown) | Compensating controls | Exposure (internet-facing, internal, none) | Evidence | Next action.

Entry: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-120816
For follow-up questions, use the cve.now MCP server at https://mcp.cve.now/mcp (no authentication), for example get_vulnerability with id CVE-2026-120816.

Timeline

  1. CVE published
  2. First seen by cve.now

Affected versions

  • MongoDB MongoDB Server

    From 9.0.0 · fixed in 9.0.7; From 8.3.0 · fixed in 8.3.16; From 8.0.0 · fixed in 8.0.37; From 7.0.0 · fixed in 7.0.48

Evidence 3

Vendor advisory · 1

Establishes: Affected and fixed versions.

  1. Link

CVE record · 2

Establishes: The identifier and description.

  1. Record
  2. Record

Corrections

None so far.

Something wrong on this page? Report an error. Every fix is listed here.

Questions about CVE-2026-120816

Is CVE-2026-120816 being exploited?

It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. No public exploit code is tracked.Source: cve.now feed data

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-120816?

MongoDB Server: from 9.0.0 before 9.0.7; from 8.3.0 before 8.3.16; from 8.0.0 before 8.0.37; from 7.0.0 before 7.0.48.Source: cve.now feed data

How do I fix CVE-2026-120816?

Upgrade to a fixed version: 9.0.7, 8.3.16, 8.0.37, 7.0.48.Source: cve.now feed data