CVE-2025-20281: Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution 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.
This 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.
Classification
CVE ID: CVE-2025-20281
CVSS Base Severity: CRITICAL
CVSS Base Score: 9.8
CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Problem Types
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')Affected Products
Vendor: Cisco
Product: Cisco Identity Services Engine Software
Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)
EPSS Score: 0.11% (probability of being exploited)
EPSS Percentile: 30.21% (scored less or equal to compared to others)
EPSS Date: 2025-06-30 (when was this score calculated)
Stakeholder-Specific Vulnerability Categorization (SSVC)
SSVC Exploitation: none
SSVC Technical Impact: total
SSVC Automatable: true
References
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-20281https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-unauth-rce-ZAd2GnJ6