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mongodbatlas

Cluster has backup enabled

clusters_backup_enabled
Service: clustersSeverity: high
OfficialBuilt-inVerified
Categories:resilience
Resource Type:NotDefined

MongoDB Atlas clusters have automated backups enabled (cloudBackup/backup_enabled) to generate snapshots and support restore operations

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Risk

Without backups, deleted or corrupted records are irrecoverable, undermining integrity. Failures or bad deployments can cause prolonged unavailability with no restore path. Lacking point-in-time recovery prevents precise rollbacks, amplifying the blast radius of mistakes or ransomware.

Run this check with Prowler

Run in Prowler Cloud
Run
prowler mongodbatlas --checks clusters_backup_enabled

Recommendation

Enable Cloud Backups on all production clusters and define backup schedules and retention that meet business RPO/RTO. For critical data, enable point-in-time recovery. Apply least privilege and separation of duties to backup access, protect against deletion with policy, monitor backup health, and perform regular test restores.

Remediation

CLI

curl -sS -u "<PUBLIC_KEY>:<PRIVATE_KEY>" --digest -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X PATCH "https://cloud.mongodb.com/api/atlas/v1.0/groups/<PROJECT_ID>/clusters/<CLUSTER_NAME>" --data '{"cloudBackup":true}'

Terraform

resource "mongodbatlas_cluster" "<example_resource_name>" {
  project_id = "<example_resource_id>"
  name       = "<example_resource_name>"

  cloud_backup = true  # Critical: enables Cloud Backups so the check passes
}

Other

1Sign in to MongoDB Atlas and open your project
2Go to Database > Clusters
3For the target cluster, click the three dots (...) > Edit Configuration
4Under Additional Settings, toggle Cloud Backup to On
5Click Save Changes

Check Code

from typing import List

from prowler.lib.check.models import Check, CheckReportMongoDBAtlas
from prowler.providers.mongodbatlas.services.clusters.clusters_client import (
    clusters_client,
)


class clusters_backup_enabled(Check):
    """Check if MongoDB Atlas clusters have backup enabled

    This class verifies that MongoDB Atlas clusters have backup enabled
    to protect against data loss.
    """

    def execute(self) -> List[CheckReportMongoDBAtlas]:
        """Execute the MongoDB Atlas cluster backup enabled check

        Iterates over all clusters and checks if they have backup
        enabled (backupEnabled=true).

        Returns:
            List[CheckReportMongoDBAtlas]: A list of reports for each cluster
        """
        findings = []

        for cluster in clusters_client.clusters.values():
            report = CheckReportMongoDBAtlas(metadata=self.metadata(), resource=cluster)

            if cluster.backup_enabled:
                report.status = "PASS"
                report.status_extended = (
                    f"Cluster {cluster.name} in project {cluster.project_name} "
                    f"has backup enabled."
                )
            else:
                report.status = "FAIL"
                report.status_extended = (
                    f"Cluster {cluster.name} in project {cluster.project_name} "
                    f"does not have backup enabled."
                )

            findings.append(report)

        return findings

References