EUVD-2026-81015
GHSA-46xj-2h8f-mw97
Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain valid ISE admin credentials
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DeliveryCraft feed package with malicious XML external entity
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ExploitUpload via administrative interface
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ExecutionXML parser resolves external entity
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ImpactRead arbitrary files / reach internal systems (SSRF)
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A02:2025 - Security Misconfiguration
ASVS 5.0
V13 - Configuration XML external entity prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Initial Access, Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Requires valid Cisco ISE administrative credentials (PR:H) and the ability to upload a crafted offline profiler feed package through the administrative interface. The vulnerable code path is the offline profiler feed service's parsing of attacker-controlled feed metadata with an XML parser that does not disable external entity resolution. Limiting factors: administrative authentication substantially narrows the attacker population, and impact is confined to arbitrary file read and SSRF to internal systems (no code execution, integrity, or availability impact). Affects Cisco ISE and ISE Passive Identity Connector versions 3.1 through 3.5; no user interaction beyond the attacker's own upload is needed. |
| Impact | This is a genuine but bounded issue, correctly rated Medium (CVSS 4.9). The vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N shows network reachability and low attack complexity, but PR:H is the decisive limiter: exploitation requires valid Cisco ISE administrative credentials, which already grant broad platform control - so the marginal gain from this bug is arbitrary file read plus SSRF, not a foothold from nothing. Impact is confidentiality-only (C:H/I:N/A:N), consistent with an XXE that reads files and issues internal requests rather than executing code. No EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public PoC are present in the provided data, so there is no signal of active or imminent exploitation - this is no public exploit identified at time of analysis. There is no SSVC record supplied. No conflicting signals: the CVSS network vector aligns with the description's remote administrative upload path. Net priority is moderate - patch in normal cycle, prioritize higher only where ISE admin access is loosely held or shared. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who already holds valid Cisco ISE administrative credentials crafts a malicious offline profiler feed package whose XML metadata embeds an external entity, then uploads it through the administrative web interface. When ISE parses the feed metadata with an XML parser that fails to disable external entity resolution, the entity dereferences local files (returning their contents) or forces the appliance to issue requests to internal systems (SSRF). No public PoC is referenced in the provided intelligence. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 16, 2026
XML external entity (XXE) injection in the offline profiler feed service of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) allows an authenticated remote administrator to read arbitrary files from the appliance and to use it as a pivot for requests to internal systems. The flaw affects ISE and ISE Passive Identity Connector releases across the 3.1 through 3.5 trains, and exploitation requires high-privilege administrative credentials (CVSS 3.1 vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N, score 4.9) plus the ability to upload a crafted offline feed package through the administrative interface. Cisco is the reporting vendor and a consolidated advisory is available; no public exploit code and no confirmed active exploitation have been identified at time of analysis, and the high privilege prerequisite keeps the issue bounded to a Medium risk rating.
RemediationAI
Apply the fixed software release identified for your ISE and ISE Passive Identity Connector train in Cisco's advisory (cisco-sa-ise-multi-hrP9jQSQ, https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-multi-hrP9jQSQ), and use https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-76427 to confirm the affected/fixed version mapping; no public exploit exists, so planned maintenance windows are reasonable, though the flaw should not be left indefinitely. Because exploitation requires valid administrative credentials and an upload through the administrative interface, the most effective compensating controls are access-oriented: restrict the ISE administrative UI and feed-upload endpoints to a dedicated management VLAN or jump hosts and enforce MFA and least privilege so that no unnecessary account can upload offline feed packages - the trade-off is reduced operational flexibility for administrators working remotely. Until patched, treat offline profiler feed packages as untrusted input: only import feeds obtained from vetted sources, inspect uploads for DOCTYPE/ENTITY declarations before ingestion, and disable or tightly scope the offline feed ingestion workflow if it is not operationally required. To blunt the SSRF component, apply egress filtering so ISE nodes can only reach the specific internal services they legitimately require, and alert on unexpected outbound requests originating from ISE management interfaces; the trade-off is that legitimate integrations outside the allowlist will break and must be enumerated first.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 2 packages in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The root cause is CWE-611, Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference. The offline profiler feed service parses attacker-controlled feed metadata with an XML parser that has external entity resolution left enabled, so a malicious DOCTYPE/ENTITY declaration embedded in an uploaded offline feed package is resolved by the appliance when the metadata is processed. This lets the attacker exfiltrate local file contents into the parsed output (arbitrary file read) and, by pointing an entity at an attacker-chosen URL, coerce the ISE node into making server-side requests to internal hosts that are otherwise unreachable from outside the management network - effectively an SSRF primitive running with the privileges of the feed service. The affected CPEs cover cisco:cisco_identity_services_engine_software and cisco:cisco_ise_passive_identity_connector, i.e. the full 3.1.x, 3.2.x, 3.3.x, 3.4.x and 3.5.x lines including their listed patch levels. Scope is unchanged (S:U) and there is no integrity or availability impact - the attacker gains read-only access to files readable by the service account and network reachability, not command execution.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Remote administrative upload path (AV:N, AC:L), but valid admin credentials required (PR:H); XXE yields file read and SSRF, so confidentiality-only C:H with I:N/A:N and no scope change.
Primary rating from Vendor (cisco).
CVSS VectorVendor: cisco
DescriptionCVE.org
A vulnerability in the offline profiler feed service of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to read arbitrary files that are stored on an affected device.
This vulnerability is due to the parsing of attacker-controlled feed metadata with an XML parser that does not disable external entity resolution. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by uploading a crafted offline feed package through the administrative interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read arbitrary files from the file system and issue requests to internal systems from the affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials.
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
XML External Entity (XXE) attacks exploit XML parsers that process Document Type Definitions (DTDs) without proper restrictions.
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Exploit-DB