Cisco ISE command injection via crafted HTTP request
CVE-2026-20181 Published on June 17, 2026

Cisco Identity Services Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
A vulnerability in Cisco ISE and ISE-PIC could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain user-level access to the underlying operating system and then elevate privileges to root. In single-node deployments, successful exploitation of this vulnerability could cause the affected ISE node to become unavailable, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. In that condition, endpoints that have not already authenticated would be unable to access the network until the node is restored.

NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2026-20181 can be exploited with network access, and requires user privileges. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. 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.

Attack Vector:
NETWORK
Attack Complexity:
LOW
Privileges Required:
HIGH
User Interaction:
NONE
Scope:
CHANGED
Confidentiality Impact:
HIGH
Integrity Impact:
HIGH
Availability Impact:
HIGH

Weakness Type

What is a Directory traversal Vulnerability?

The software uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the software does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.

CVE-2026-20181 has been classified to as a Directory traversal vulnerability or weakness.


Products Associated with CVE-2026-20181

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Cisco Identity Services Engine Software
 

Affected Versions

Cisco Identity Services Engine Software: Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector: