Cisco ISE API Java Deserialization RCE
CVE-2025-20124 Published on February 5, 2025

Cisco Identity Services Engine Java Deserialization Vulnerability
A vulnerability in an API of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands as the root user on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insecure deserialization of user-supplied Java byte streams by the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted serialized Java object to an affected API. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the device and elevate privileges. Note: To successfully exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid read-only administrative credentials. In a single-node deployment, new devices will not be able to authenticate during the reload time.

NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2025-20124 is exploitable with network access, and requires small amount of user privileges. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have a small impact on confidentiality, a high impact on integrity and availability.

Attack Vector:

NETWORK

Attack Complexity:

LOW

Privileges Required:

LOW

User Interaction:

NONE

Scope:

CHANGED

Confidentiality Impact:

LOW

Integrity Impact:

HIGH

Availability Impact:

HIGH

Weakness Type

What is a Marshaling, Unmarshaling Vulnerability?

The application deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently verifying that the resulting data will be valid.

CVE-2025-20124 has been classified to as a Marshaling, Unmarshaling vulnerability or weakness.

Products Associated with CVE-2025-20124

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Cisco Identity Services Engine

Affected Versions

Cisco Identity Services Engine Software:

Version 3.0.0 is affected.
Version 3.0.0 p1 is affected.
Version 3.0.0 p2 is affected.
Version 3.0.0 p3 is affected.
Version 3.1.0 is affected.
Version 3.0.0 p4 is affected.
Version 3.1.0 p1 is affected.
Version 3.0.0 p5 is affected.
Version 3.1.0 p3 is affected.
Version 3.1.0 p2 is affected.
Version 3.0.0 p6 is affected.
Version 3.2.0 is affected.
Version 3.1.0 p4 is affected.
Version 2.7.0 p8 is affected.
Version 3.1.0 p5 is affected.
Version 3.2.0 p1 is affected.
Version 3.0.0 p7 is affected.
Version 3.1.0 p6 is affected.
Version 3.2.0 p2 is affected.
Version 3.1.0 p7 is affected.
Version 3.3.0 is affected.
Version 3.2.0 p3 is affected.
Version 3.0.0 p8 is affected.
Version 3.2.0 p4 is affected.
Version 3.1.0 p8 is affected.
Version 3.2.0 p5 is affected.
Version 3.2.0 p6 is affected.
Version 3.1.0 p9 is affected.
Version 3.3 Patch 2 is affected.
Version 3.3 Patch 1 is affected.
Version 3.3 Patch 3 is affected.

Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector:

Version 3.0.0 is affected.
Version 3.2.0 is affected.
Version 3.1.0 is affected.
Version 3.3.0 is affected.

Exploit Probability

EPSS

0.87%

Percentile

74.91%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.