CVE-2025-20281

Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection Vulnerability

Severity: critical
CVSS v3: 10
EPSS percentile: 100%
Known exploited: yes (CISA KEV)
Vendor: Cisco
Product: Identity Services Engine
Published: 2025-07-28
Modified: 2026-06-17

Description

A vulnerability in a specific API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system as root. The attacker does not require any valid credentials to exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted API request. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain root privileges on an affected device.

NVD record

Informational only. Not a warranty of security, completeness or fitness for any purpose. Derived from NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org EPSS and vendor advisories (CVE Program List v5); those sources change continuously and may be incomplete or incorrect. Verify every remediation against the vendor advisory before acting. Absence of a finding is not evidence that no vulnerability exists. Not endorsed by NVD, CISA, FIRST or any vendor named.

Raw record

{
  "id": "CVE-2025-20281",
  "title": "Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection Vulnerability",
  "description": "A vulnerability in a specific API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system as root. The attacker does not require any valid credentials to exploit this vulnerability.\r\n\r\nThis vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted API request. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain root privileges on an affected device.",
  "severity": "critical",
  "cvss": 10,
  "epss": 100,
  "kev": 1,
  "vendor": "Cisco",
  "product": "Identity Services Engine",
  "published": "2025-07-28",
  "modified": "2026-06-17T08:41:19.980",
  "source": "nvd",
  "remediation": [],
  "disclaimer": "Informational only. Not a warranty of security, completeness or fitness for any purpose. Derived from NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org EPSS and vendor advisories (CVE Program List v5); those sources change continuously and may be incomplete or incorrect. Verify every remediation against the vendor advisory before acting. Absence of a finding is not evidence that no vulnerability exists. Not endorsed by NVD, CISA, FIRST or any vendor named."
}