EC
22
MongoDBERRORSystemHIGH confidence

The provided BSON is invalid

Production Risk

HIGH

What this means

This error indicates that a BSON object being processed is malformed or corrupted. This is a low-level error, often pointing to driver bugs, network corruption, or issues with data files on disk rather than an application-level syntax error.

Why it happens
  1. 1A bug in the MongoDB driver being used
  2. 2Data corruption during network transmission between the client and server
  3. 3Corrupted data files (`.wt` files) on the MongoDB server's disk
  4. 4Manually creating or manipulating BSON that results in an incorrect byte structure
How to reproduce

This error is not typically triggerable via standard shell commands, as it relates to the underlying binary representation of data. It would occur if a driver sent a corrupted BSON document to the server.

trigger — this will error
trigger — this will error
// This cannot be demonstrated with standard MongoDB queries.
// It would involve sending a malformed binary BSON object to the server.
// For example, a BSON document with an incorrect length prefix.

expected output

MongoServerError: Invalid BSON object

Fix 1

Update MongoDB Drivers

WHEN This error appears unexpectedly during normal operations.

Update MongoDB Drivers
// For Node.js
// npm update mongodb

// For Python
// pip install --upgrade pymongo

Why this works

Ensure you are using the latest stable version of your MongoDB driver. The issue might be a known, fixed bug in a previous version.

Fix 2

Verify Network Integrity

WHEN The error is intermittent and occurs in a distributed environment.

Why this works

Investigate the network infrastructure between your application and the database for issues like packet loss or corruption. Use network diagnostic tools to check for problems.

Fix 3

Run a Database Repair

WHEN You suspect data file corruption on the server.

Run a Database Repair
// This is a last resort and requires downtime.
db.repairDatabase()

Why this works

If you suspect disk-level corruption, the `repairDatabase` command can sometimes fix it. Always ensure you have a complete backup before running this command, as it can result in data loss.

What not to do

✕ Ignore the error if it is intermittent

InvalidBSON is a serious error that points to fundamental data integrity problems. Ignoring it can lead to widespread data corruption and application failure.

Sources
Official documentation ↗

mongodb/mongo src/mongo/base/error_codes.yml

BSON Specification ↗

Content generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy. Found an error? hello@errcodes.dev

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