CVE-2025-59944
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Cursor IDE allows attackers to bypass case-sensitive file protection checks on case-insensitive filesystems. By exploiting prompt injection, attackers can modify sensitive configuration files like .cursor/mcp.json to achieve remote code execution. Users running Cursor IDE versions 1.6.23 and below on case-insensitive filesystems are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Cursor IDE
📦 What is this software?
Cursor by Anysphere
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full system compromise through remote code execution, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary commands, steal data, or deploy malware.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or unauthorized modification of Cursor configuration files leading to code execution in the context of the Cursor process.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if running on case-sensitive filesystems or with proper file permission restrictions.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires prompt injection capability and access to modify files in Cursor's configuration directory.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.7
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/cursor/cursor/security/advisories/GHSA-xcwh-rrwj-gxc7
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Cursor IDE. 2. Go to Settings > About. 3. Check for updates. 4. Install version 1.7 or higher. 5. Restart Cursor.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Use case-sensitive filesystem
allRun Cursor on a case-sensitive filesystem where the vulnerability cannot be exploited.
Restrict file permissions
allSet read-only permissions on Cursor configuration directories to prevent modification.
chmod -R 444 ~/.cursor/
chmod -R 444 %APPDATA%\Cursor\
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable AI features that could be used for prompt injection
- Monitor and restrict write access to Cursor configuration directories
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Cursor version in Settings > About. If version is 1.6.23 or below, you are vulnerable if on case-insensitive filesystem.Check Version:
cursor --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Cursor version is 1.7 or higher in Settings > About.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected modifications to .cursor/mcp.json or other Cursor configuration files
- Unusual process execution originating from Cursor
Network Indicators:
- Unexpected outbound connections from Cursor process
SIEM Query:
process.name:cursor AND (file.path:*/.cursor/*.json OR process.cmdline:*curl* OR process.cmdline:*wget*)