Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-61591

RCE in Anysphere Cursor ≤ 1.7

Published
03 October 2025
Modified
17 October 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.011 63th percentile
Risk Priority 66 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-61591 is a high-severity OS Command Injection (CWE-78) vulnerability in Anysphere Cursor. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 37% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

This vulnerability is AI-related — categorised as Enterprise AI Assistants; in the Protocol-Specific Risks risk domain.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2025-61591 is a command injection vulnerability (CWE-78) affecting Cursor, an AI-powered code editor for programming, in versions 1.7 and below. The flaw occurs when the MCP component uses OAuth authentication with an untrusted MCP server, allowing an attacker to impersonate a malicious server and inject crafted commands during the authentication interaction process. This leads to potential remote code execution on the affected host.

An attacker with network access can exploit this vulnerability without prior privileges by tricking a user into authenticating via OAuth to a malicious MCP server (user interaction required, per CVSS UI:R). Successful exploitation enables arbitrary command injection by the agent, resulting in remote code execution with full user privileges on the host system, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CVSS 8.8: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

The GitHub security advisory at https://github.com/cursor/cursor/security/advisories/GHSA-wj33-264c-j9cq notes no fixed release version is available yet, but a patch (2025.09.17-25b418f) has been issued for remediation. Security practitioners should apply this patch promptly and avoid using untrusted MCP servers with OAuth in Cursor installations.

Cursor's integration of AI for programming introduces relevance to AI/ML workflows, as exploitation could target developer environments handling AI model code or data. No public reports of real-world exploitation are available as of the CVE publication on 2025-10-03.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Cursor is a code editor built for programming with AI. In versions 1.7 and below, when MCP uses OAuth authentication with an untrusted MCP server, an attacker can impersonate a malicious MCP server and return crafted, maliciously injected commands during…

more

the interaction process, leading to command injection and potential remote code execution. If chained with an untrusted MCP service via OAuth, this command injection vulnerability could allow arbitrary code execution on the host by the agent. This can then be used to directly compromise the system by executing malicious commands with full user privileges. This issue does not currently have a fixed release version, but there is a patch, 2025.09.17-25b418f.

CWE(s)

AI Security AnalysisAI

AI Category
Enterprise AI Assistants
Risk Domain
Protocol-Specific Risks
OWASP Top 10 for LLMs 2025
None mapped
Classification Reason
Matched keywords: ai, mcp

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-31854Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-64106Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-54136Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-54135Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-54133Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-54131Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-61590Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-64108Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2025-61593Same product: Anysphere Cursor
CVE-2026-22708Same product: Anysphere Cursor

Affected Assets

anysphere
cursor
≤ 1.7

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V15.2.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation can discover missing or incorrect command sanitization during development.

Input validation directly neutralizes or rejects special characters that would otherwise alter OS command structure.

Least privilege reduces the permissions available to any process that could be subverted by injected commands.

Least functionality restricts available OS commands and interpreters, limiting the blast radius of injection.

Secure engineering principles require proper neutralization of untrusted input before command construction.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly require secure coding and input handling that blocks command-injection defects, yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors and verification gaps unaddressed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching/maintenance can remediate known command-injection CVEs in dependencies (partial forward) but does nothing to stop developers from introducing improper neutralization in custom code (none reverse).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing and code review target insecure use of operating-system command interfaces, catching command-injection flaws introduced during development.

References