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Infisical PAM supports secure, just-in-time access to MongoDB databases. This allows your team to access MongoDB without sharing long-lived credentials, while maintaining a complete audit trail of who accessed what and when.

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How It Works

MongoDB access in Infisical PAM uses an Infisical Gateway to securely proxy connections to your MongoDB server. When a user requests access, Infisical establishes a secure tunnel through the Gateway, enabling secure access without exposing your MongoDB instance directly.

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Key Concepts

  1. Gateway: An Infisical Gateway deployed in your network that can reach the MongoDB server. The Gateway handles secure communication between users and your MongoDB instance.
  2. Authentication: Credentials (username/password) are stored securely in Infisical and used by the Gateway to authenticate with MongoDB on behalf of the user. Authentication is performed against the admin database.
  3. Local Proxy: The Infisical CLI starts a local proxy on your machine that intercepts MongoDB connections and routes them securely through the Gateway to your MongoDB instance.
  4. Session Tracking: All access sessions are logged, including when the session was created, who accessed the MongoDB instance, session duration, and when it ended.

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Session Tracking

Infisical tracks:
  • When the session was created
  • Who accessed which MongoDB instance
  • Session duration
  • When the session ended
Session Logs: After ending a session (by stopping the proxy), you can view detailed session logs in the Sessions page.

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Prerequisites

Before configuring MongoDB access in Infisical PAM, you need:
  1. Infisical Gateway - A Gateway deployed in your network with access to the MongoDB server
  2. MongoDB Credentials - Username and password for the MongoDB instance
  3. Infisical CLI - The Infisical CLI installed on user machines
Gateway Required: MongoDB access requires an Infisical Gateway to be deployed and registered with your Infisical instance. The Gateway must have network connectivity to your MongoDB server.

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Create the PAM Resource

The PAM Resource represents the connection between Infisical and your MongoDB instance.
1

Ensure Gateway is Running

Before creating the resource, ensure you have an Infisical Gateway running and registered with your Infisical instance. The Gateway must have network access to your MongoDB server.
2

Create the Resource in Infisical

  1. Navigate to your PAM project and go to the Resources tab
  2. Click Add Resource and select MongoDB
  3. Enter a Name for the resource (e.g., production-mongo, staging-db)
  4. Select the Gateway that has access to this MongoDB instance
  5. Enter the Connection String - a mongodb:// or mongodb+srv:// URI pointing to your MongoDB server (e.g., mongodb://mongo.example.com:27017 or mongodb+srv://cluster0.abc123.mongodb.net). Do not include credentials or a database name in the URI — those are configured separately.
  6. Enter the Database Name - the authentication database to connect to (default: admin)
  7. Configure SSL/TLS options:
    • Enable SSL: Toggle to enable TLS/SSL connections (enabled by default)
    • Reject Unauthorized: Toggle to verify SSL certificates (enabled by default, recommended for production)
    • CA Certificate: Optional CA certificate for custom certificate authorities
SSL Configuration: SSL is enabled by default. For self-signed certificates, you may need to provide the CA certificate or disable certificate validation (not recommended for production).

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Create PAM Accounts

Once you have configured the PAM resource, you’ll need to configure a PAM account for your MongoDB resource. A PAM Account represents a specific set of credentials that users can request access to. You can create multiple accounts per resource, each with different permission levels.
1

Navigate to Resource

Go to the Resources tab in your PAM project and open the MongoDB resource you created.
2

Add New Account

Click Add Account.
3

Fill in Account Details

Fill in the account details:
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Name
string
required
A friendly name for this account (e.g., readonly-user, admin-access)
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Description
string
An optional description for this account.
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Username
string
required
The MongoDB username.
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Password
string
required
The MongoDB password.
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Require MFA for Access
boolean
When enabled, users must complete a multi-factor authentication (MFA) challenge before accessing this account. The MFA method used is determined by the organization’s enforced method, the user’s configured method, or email as a fallback.

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Access MongoDB Account

Once your resource and accounts are configured, users can request access through the Infisical CLI:
1

Get the Access Command

  1. Navigate to the Resources tab in your PAM project and open the MongoDB resource
  2. In the resource’s accounts section, find the account you want to access
  3. Click the Access button for that account
  4. Copy the provided CLI command
The command follows this format:
infisical pam db access --resource <resource-name> --account <account-name> --project-id <project-id> --duration <duration> --domain <infisical-url>
2

Run the Access Command

Run the copied command in your terminal.The CLI will:
  1. Authenticate with Infisical
  2. Establish a secure connection through the Gateway
  3. Start a local proxy on your machine
  4. Display a local connection URI you can use to connect
3

Connect to MongoDB

Once the proxy is running, connect to MongoDB using the connection URI displayed by the CLI. You can use any MongoDB client — no password is needed, as the Gateway injects the real credentials on your behalf.Using mongosh:
mongosh "<connection-uri>"
Using other clients:You can also use GUI clients such as MongoDB Compass, Studio 3T, DataGrip, or NoSQLBooster. Use the connection URI shown in the CLI output, or point them to localhost on the port shown. Leave the password field empty.
4

End the Session

When you’re done, stop the proxy by pressing Ctrl+C in the terminal where it’s running. This will:
  • Close the secure tunnel
  • End the session
  • Log the session details to Infisical
You can view session logs in the Sessions page of your PAM project.