CVE-2025-20281: Cisco Identity Services Engine unauthenticated RCE in API

CVE-2025-20281 · Severity: critical · CVSS 10 · Exploited in the wild · Published 2025-07-28

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is a security policy management platform used to control access to corporate networks. A critical vulnerability has been identified that allows an unauthorized person to take complete control of the system over the network. This could lead to a total service outage, theft of sensitive network credentials, or unauthorized access to the entire corporate network. This vulnerability is currently being exploited in the wild.

Technologies: Cisco Identity Services Engine, Cisco Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector. Vendors: Cisco.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2025-20281 exploited in the wild?
Yes. CVE-2025-20281 is known to be exploited in the wild, first recorded on 28 July 2025. Treat it as urgent.
How severe is CVE-2025-20281?
Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 10, published 28 July 2025.
Which products and versions are affected?
Cisco Identity Services Engine 3.3.0 (up to Patch 6), 3.4.0 (up to Patch 1); Cisco Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector 3.3.0 (up to Patch 6), 3.4.0 (up to Patch 1).
Is there a fix for CVE-2025-20281?
No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
How is CVE-2025-20281 attacked?
It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.
Am I affected by CVE-2025-20281?
Check whether you run Cisco Identity Services Engine or Cisco Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

Technical details

A vulnerability in a specific API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC (CWE-74) is caused by insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An unauthenticated, remote attacker can exploit this by sending a specially crafted API request to the affected device. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system with root privileges. This vulnerability has been observed in active exploitation and carries a CVSS score of 10.0. Cisco has released security updates to address this issue.

Affected products

  • Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) 3.3.0 (up to Patch 6), 3.4.0 (up to Patch 1)
  • Cisco Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC) 3.3.0 (up to Patch 6), 3.4.0 (up to Patch 1)

Timeline

  • 2025-07-24: other: Initial third-party reporting/blogging
  • 2025-07-28: advisory: Cisco advisory published
  • 2025-07-28: kev added: Added to CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
  • 2025-07-28: exploited: Confirmed active exploitation in the wild

This page as Markdown. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with a link back.