Cyber Posture

CVE-2025-54136

HighRCE

Published: 02 August 2025

Published
02 August 2025
Modified
25 August 2025
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score 7.2 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0013 32.3th percentile
Risk Priority 14 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2025-54136 is a high-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Anysphere Cursor. Its CVSS base score is 7.2 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Compromise Software Supply Chain (T1195.002); ranked at the 32.3th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as Other Platforms; in the Supply Chain and Deployment risk domain.

Threat & Defense at a Glance

What attackers do: exploitation maps to Compromise Software Supply Chain (T1195.002) and 1 other technique.
Threat & Defense Details

Likely Mitigating ControlsAI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-78

Platform-independent apps typically execute inside a managed runtime or sandbox that restricts direct OS command execution, reducing the ability to exploit OS command injection.

addresses: CWE-78

Validates inputs to block special elements that would alter OS command execution.

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1195.002 Compromise Software Supply Chain Initial Access
Adversaries may manipulate application software prior to receipt by a final consumer for the purpose of data or system compromise.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
Why these techniques?

Vulnerability enables supply chain compromise (T1195.002) via modification of trusted MCP configs in shared GitHub repos and exploitation for client execution (T1203) in the Cursor code editor, achieving remote persistent arbitrary code execution.

NVD Description

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…

more

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.

Deeper analysisAI

CVE-2025-54136 affects Cursor, a code editor built for programming with AI, in versions 1.2.4 and below. The vulnerability enables remote and persistent code execution by modifying an already trusted MCP configuration file within a shared GitHub repository or by editing the file locally on the target's machine. Classified under CWE-78 (OS Command Injection) with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.2 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), it was published on 2025-08-02.

Attackers can exploit this if they have write permissions on a user's active branches in a source repository containing existing MCP servers the user has previously approved, or if they have arbitrary local file-write access on the target machine. In such scenarios, after 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, achieving arbitrary code execution.

The vulnerability is fixed in Cursor version 1.3. Additional details are available in the security advisory at https://github.com/cursor/cursor/security/advisories/GHSA-24mc-g4xr-4395.

Details

CWE(s)

Affected Products

anysphere
cursor
≤ 1.3

AI Security AnalysisAI

AI Category
Other Platforms
Risk Domain
Supply Chain and Deployment
OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
None mapped
Classification Reason
Cursor is a code editor explicitly built for programming with AI, integrating AI features for coding assistance, which aligns with Enterprise AI Assistants. The vulnerability exploits MCP configuration files for remote code execution in this AI-enhanced development environment.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-61591Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-64106Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-54135Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-59944Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2026-31854Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-61593Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-61592Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2026-26268Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2026-22708Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-64108Same product: Anysphere Cursor

References