{"id":"CVE-2025-20281","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2025-20281","generatedAt":"2026-10-28T06:13:56.790Z","title":"Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection Vulnerability","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.\r\n\r\nThis 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.","published":"2025-06-25T16:15:26.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T08:41:20.000Z","status":"Analyzed","sourceIdentifier":"psirt@cisco.com","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":10,"severity":"CRITICAL","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-74"],"affected":["cisco/identity services engine","cisco/identity services engine passive identity connector"],"epss":{"score":0.97601,"percentile":0.99901,"date":"2026-10-27","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":true,"dateAdded":"2025-07-28","dueDate":"2025-08-18","knownRansomwareCampaignUse":"Unknown","notes":"Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.\nhttps://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-unauth-rce-ZAd2GnJ6 ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-20281"},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"urgent","text":"Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 18 August 2025). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-unauth-rce-ZAd2GnJ6","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"psirt@cisco.com"},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2025-20281","tags":["US Government Resource"],"source":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0"},{"url":"https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/blog/2025/7/24/cve-2025-20281-cisco-ise-api-unauthenticated-remote-code-execution-vulnerability","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-20281","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}