Identity Services Engine
CVE-2024-20528
HIGH
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V5 - File Handling Path canonicalization, traversal prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Discovery, Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 7.2 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction not required. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could access files and directories outside the intended path by sending crafted requests to the affected application. |
Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.
Alert meAnalysisAI
A vulnerability in the API of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to upload files to arbitrary locations on the underlying operating system of an affected device. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.2), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
RemediationAI
No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Validate and canonicalize file paths. Use chroot or sandboxing. Reject input containing path separators or '../' sequences.
Affects your stack
Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as Path Traversal (CWE-22), which allows attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path. A vulnerability in the API of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to upload files to arbitrary locations on the underlying operating system of an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need valid Super Admin credentials. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied parameters in API requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted API request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to upload custom files to arbitrary locations on the underlying operating system, execute arbitrary code, and elevate privileges to root. Affected products include: Cisco Identity Services Engine.
Know when Identity Services Engine gets its next vulnerability
- Watch products and get an email when something new is published
- Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
No credit card · 7-day full trial
Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
A vulnerability in the API of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to upload files to arbitrary locations on the underlying operating system of an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need valid Super Admin credentials.
This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied parameters in API requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted API request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to upload custom files to arbitrary locations on the underlying operating system, execute arbitrary code, and elevate privileges to root.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Path traversal exploits occur when applications use user-controlled input to construct file system paths without proper validation.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
More in Identity Services Engine
View allApache Log4j2 contains a critical JNDI injection vulnerability known as 'Log4Shell' that allows unauthenticated remote c
Cisco ISE and ISE-PIC contain a critical input injection vulnerability (CVE-2025-20281, CVSS 10.0) that allows unauthent
CVE-2025-20282 is a critical remote code execution vulnerability in Cisco ISE and ISE-PIC that allows unauthenticated at
A vulnerability in an API of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with valid read-only credentials to
A vulnerability in the authentication module of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an unauthenticated, rem
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC) contain an insufficiently protected cr
Default credentials in Cisco ISE cloud deployments on AWS/Azure/OCI. CVSS 9.9.
A vulnerability in the login page of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacke
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an unauthentic
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an unauthentic
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Identity Services Engine could allow an authenticated, re
A vulnerability in a specific Cisco ISE CLI command could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform command inje
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB