CVE-2025-61592
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows remote code execution when users run Cursor CLI inside a malicious repository. Attackers can exploit permissive configuration settings and prompt injection via project-specific rules to execute arbitrary shell commands. Users of Cursor CLI versions 1.7 and below are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Cursor CLI
📦 What is this software?
Cursor by Anysphere
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Full system compromise with attacker gaining complete control over the user's environment, potentially leading to data theft, lateral movement, or persistent backdoors.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or execution of malicious code within the user's context, potentially stealing credentials, accessing sensitive files, or installing malware.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if users only run CLI in trusted repositories and have proper security controls preventing execution of untrusted code.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (running CLI in malicious repo) but the attack chain is straightforward once the malicious files are in place.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Patch 2025.09.17-25b418f
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/cursor/cursor/security/advisories/GHSA-v64q-396f-7m79
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update to the latest Cursor version when released. 2. Apply patch 2025.09.17-25b418f if available. 3. Restart Cursor CLI after update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable automatic config loading
allPrevent Cursor CLI from automatically loading project-specific configuration files
export CURSOR_DISABLE_PROJECT_CONFIG=1
Use trusted repositories only
allOnly run Cursor CLI in verified, trusted repositories
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Avoid running Cursor CLI in untrusted repositories
- Implement strict file integrity monitoring for .cursor/ directories
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Cursor CLI version with 'cursor --version' and verify if it's 1.7 or belowCheck Version:
cursor --versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is above 1.7 or includes patch 2025.09.17-25b418f📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual shell command execution from Cursor CLI process
- Loading of unexpected .cursor/cli.json or .cursor/rules/ files
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections from Cursor CLI to unexpected destinations
SIEM Query:
process_name:"cursor" AND (command_line:"*sh*" OR command_line:"*bash*" OR command_line:"*cmd*")