Cisco Identity Services Engine Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities

Plan PatchCVSS 9.9cisco-sa-ise-rce-4fverepvApr 15, 2026
Cisco
IT in OT - Cisco networking products are commonly deployed in OT environments
Attack path
Attack VectorNetwork
Auth RequiredLow
ComplexityLow
User InteractionNone needed
Summary

Multiple remote code execution vulnerabilities in Cisco Identity Services Engine allow an authenticated attacker with read-only admin credentials to execute arbitrary commands on the ISE operating system. Exploitation begins with a crafted HTTP request sent to an affected device, exploiting insufficient input validation. Successful compromise allows the attacker to gain user-level access and escalate to root. In single-node deployments, this can cause a denial of service condition that prevents unauthenticated endpoints from accessing the network until the ISE node is restored.

What this means
What could happen
An attacker with read-only admin credentials could execute arbitrary commands on your ISE server and escalate to full system control, potentially shutting down the entire identity authentication system and denying network access to all un-authenticated endpoints.
Who's at risk
Network administrators and identity/access control teams running Cisco ISE for user authentication and network access control. Affects all organizations using ISE for 802.1X, guest access, or policy enforcement in enterprise networks.
How it could be exploited
An attacker with read-only admin credentials sends a crafted HTTP request to the ISE web interface, exploiting insufficient input validation to inject commands that execute with user privileges, then escalates those privileges to root access on the underlying operating system.
Prerequisites
  • Valid read-only admin credentials for ISE
  • Network access to ISE web interface (typically port 443)
  • Ability to authenticate to ISE
remotely exploitablerequires valid credentialslow complexityhigh CVSS score (9.9)can escalate to rootaffects authentication system availabilityno workarounds available
Exploitability
Unlikely to be exploited — EPSS score 0.2%
Affected products (1)
ProductAffected VersionsFix Status
Identity Services Engine SoftwareAll versionsFix available
Remediation & Mitigation
0/4
Do now
0/1
WORKAROUNDRestrict ISE web interface access (port 443) to only authorized administrator workstations and management networks using firewall rules
Schedule — requires maintenance window
0/2

Patching may require device reboot — plan for process interruption

HOTFIXUpdate Cisco Identity Services Engine Software to the patched version released by Cisco
HARDENINGReview and audit all ISE admin accounts; revoke or downgrade credentials that are not actively needed
Long-term hardening
0/1
HARDENINGImplement network segmentation to isolate ISE from general user networks
API: /api/v1/advisories/c9b1625a-33ea-4bbc-9eec-0e974d9388d4

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