Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Network-reachable, low-complexity but gated behind high-privilege admin auth (PR:H); vendor-asserted scope change and full C/I/A impact accepted for the grouped bundle.
Primary rating from Vendor (cisco).
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionNVD
As part of Cisco's ongoing commitment to proactive security and product quality, the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC), engineering teams have conducted a comprehensive internal security review. This review resulted in a software hardening release that addresses multiple internally discovered vulnerabilities.
The vulnerabilities tracked by CVE-2026-20237 are related to improper input validation issues that are grouped under the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) Pillar CWE-20.
AnalysisAI
Improper input validation in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC) allows a remote attacker who already holds high-privilege administrative credentials to cause high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact, with a scope change that may extend effects beyond the vulnerable component. Rated CVSS 9.1, this issue is moderated in practice by its PR:H prerequisite, which confines realistic exploitation to already-privileged insiders or post-compromise attackers; no public exploit code or active exploitation has been identified at time of analysis. …
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Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata
Vulnerability AssessmentAI
| Exploitation | Requires the attacker to already hold high-privilege administrative access to a Cisco ISE or ISE-PIC node (PR:H) and network reachability to the affected ISE service (AV:N, no user interaction). … Additional conditions and limiting factors are described in the full assessment. |
| Risk Assessment | This is a high-CVSS (9.1) issue whose real-world urgency is moderated by a critical limiting factor in its own vector: PR:H. … Full risk analysis with EPSS, KEV, and SSVC signal comparison available after sign-in. |
| Exploit Scenario | Full exploit scenario with step-by-step reproduction available after sign-in. |
| Remediation | Patch available per vendor advisory; apply the Cisco hardening release described in cisco-sa-hardening-ise-XU5EwX5T, because the input data does not provide an exact fixed version number. … Detailed patch versions, workarounds, and compensating controls in full report. |
Recommended ActionAI
Within 24 hours, inventory all Cisco ISE and ISE-PIC deployments, verify that administrative access is limited to essential personnel, and review authentication logs for signs of compromise. …
Sign in for detailed remediation steps and compensating controls.
Threat intelligence, references, and detailed analysis are available after sign-in.
Authentication bypass in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE Passive Identity Connector lets an unauthenticated
Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC can be taken over by an unauthenticated, remote attacker who reaches the REST API web servic
Remote, unauthenticated attackers with network access to Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) or ISE Passive Identity Co
Improper access control vulnerabilities in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-
Command injection in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) lets an authenticated remote attacker holding only Read-Only A
Command injection in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE Passive Identity Connector (PIC) allows authenticated
Remote code execution and privilege escalation in Cisco Identity Services Engine allows authenticated attackers with Rea
Authenticated remote command execution in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-P
SQL injection in the SXP REST API of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) lets a remote attacker who already holds valid
Command injection in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) allows an authenticated, high-privileged remote administrator
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC) contain multiple internally discovered
Root-level command execution on Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is achievable by an authenticated, high-privileged
Same weakness CWE-20 – Improper Input Validation
View allSame technique Information Disclosure
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2026-81108
GHSA-8h74-5vrg-hj96