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Description

MongoDB Error 13, 'Unauthorized', indicates that the authenticated user lacks the necessary permissions to perform a requested operation or access a specific resource. This typically occurs when a user tries to read, write, or administer a database without the required roles or privileges.

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Error Message

Unauthorized

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Known Causes

4 known causes

⚠️

Incorrect User Credentials

The provided username or password for authentication is incorrect or does not match any existing user in the authentication database.

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Insufficient User Privileges

The authenticated user exists but does not have the required roles or permissions to perform the requested database operation (e.g., read, write, create collection).

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Authentication Not Enabled

The MongoDB server is running without authentication enabled, but the client is attempting to connect with credentials, leading to an unexpected authorization failure.

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Connecting to Wrong Database

The user is attempting to perform an action on a database for which they have no authorization, potentially due to connecting to the wrong database context.

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Solutions

4 solutions available

1. Grant Required Privileges medium

Give user permission for the operation

1

Connect as admin

mongosh --host localhost -u admin -p password --authenticationDatabase admin

2

Grant read/write on database

use admin
db.grantRolesToUser("myuser", [
  { role: "readWrite", db: "mydb" }
]);

3

Grant specific privileges

db.createRole({
  role: "myCustomRole",
  privileges: [
    { resource: { db: "mydb", collection: "" }, actions: ["find", "insert", "update", "remove"] }
  ],
  roles: []
});

db.grantRolesToUser("myuser", [{ role: "myCustomRole", db: "admin" }]);

2. Check User Roles easy

Verify current permissions

1

Check user's roles

use admin
db.getUser("myuser")

2

Show role privileges

db.getRole("readWrite", { showPrivileges: true })

3. Create User with Correct Role easy

Create user with proper permissions

1

Create user with database access

use admin
db.createUser({
  user: "appuser",
  pwd: "password",
  roles: [
    { role: "readWrite", db: "mydb" },
    { role: "read", db: "reporting" }
  ]
});

4. Fix Authentication Database easy

Authenticate against correct database

1

Check which database user was created in

use admin
db.system.users.find({ user: "myuser" })

2

Connect with correct authSource

mongosh "mongodb://user:pass@host/mydb?authSource=admin"

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Related Errors

5 related errors

MongoDB Error 13: Unauthorized Access Attempt