CVE-2025-20281: critical vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine Software
Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Published · Updated
100Vexday Risk Score
Patch now. It under exploitation confirmed by CISA and has a working public exploit.
ssvc Actcvss 10epss 98%
from disclosure to weapon2 days
Published on NVDJun 25
1st PoC+2d
CISA KEV+33d
exploitation probability
98%top 1% of all CVEs
observed exploitation
yesCISA + VulnCheck
7 public exploit(s)
Action required by CISAfederal deadline: 2025-08-18
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
In short
Cisco ISE has a critical flaw in its API that lets anyone on the internet run malicious code with full control of the system, without needing a password or login credentials.
Technical detail
A vulnerability in Cisco ISE/ISE-PIC API lacks proper input validation (CWE-74), allowing an unauthenticated remote attacker to submit a crafted request and execute arbitrary code with root privileges. No authentication or valid credentials are required; successful exploitation grants complete system compromise.
Summary generated and translated by AI from the official 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.