Remote Code Execution in Cisco ISE API via Unauth Input
CVE-2025-20281 Published on June 25, 2025
Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
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.
Known Exploited Vulnerability
This Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection Vulnerability is part of CISA's list of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities. Cisco Identity Services Engine contains an injection vulnerability in a specific API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input allowing an attacker to exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted API request. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to perform remote code execution and obtaining root privileges on an affected device.
The following remediation steps are recommended / required by August 18, 2025: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2025-20281 can be exploited with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. This vulnerability is known to be actively exploited by threat actors in an automatable fashion. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to be critical as this vulnerability has a high impact to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of this component.
Weakness Type
What is an Injection Vulnerability?
The software constructs all or part of a command, data structure, or record using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify how it is parsed or interpreted when it is sent to a downstream component. Software has certain assumptions about what constitutes data and control respectively. It is the lack of verification of these assumptions for user-controlled input that leads to injection problems. Injection problems encompass a wide variety of issues -- all mitigated in very different ways and usually attempted in order to alter the control flow of the process. For this reason, the most effective way to discuss these weaknesses is to note the distinct features which classify them as injection weaknesses. The most important issue to note is that all injection problems share one thing in common -- i.e., they allow for the injection of control plane data into the user-controlled data plane. This means that the execution of the process may be altered by sending code in through legitimate data channels, using no other mechanism. While buffer overflows, and many other flaws, involve the use of some further issue to gain execution, injection problems need only for the data to be parsed. The most classic instantiations of this category of weakness are SQL injection and format string vulnerabilities.
CVE-2025-20281 has been classified to as an Injection vulnerability or weakness.
Products Associated with CVE-2025-20281
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Affected Versions
Cisco Identity Services Engine Software:- Version 3.3.0 is affected.
- Version 3.3 Patch 2 is affected.
- Version 3.3 Patch 1 is affected.
- Version 3.3 Patch 3 is affected.
- Version 3.4.0 is affected.
- Version 3.3 Patch 4 is affected.
- Version 3.4 Patch 1 is affected.
- Version 3.3 Patch 5 is affected.
- Version 3.3 Patch 6 is affected.
Exploit Probability
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.