CVE-2025-20337
📋 TL;DR
An unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability in Cisco ISE and ISE-PIC allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands as root without credentials. This affects organizations using vulnerable versions of these identity services platforms. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation in a specific API.
💻 Affected Systems
- Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
- Cisco ISE-PIC
📦 What is this software?
Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector by Cisco
View all CVEs affecting Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector →
Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector by Cisco
View all CVEs affecting Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector →
Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector by Cisco
View all CVEs affecting Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector →
Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector by Cisco
View all CVEs affecting Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector →
Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector by Cisco
View all CVEs affecting Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector →
Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector by Cisco
View all CVEs affecting Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector →
Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector by Cisco
View all CVEs affecting Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector →
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete compromise of the ISE system with root access, enabling lateral movement, credential theft, and persistent backdoor installation across the network.
Likely Case
Attackers gain full control of ISE systems to steal credentials, manipulate authentication policies, and pivot to other network resources.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if proper network segmentation and access controls prevent exploitation attempts from reaching vulnerable systems.
🎯 Exploit Status
CISA has added this to their Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, indicating active exploitation in the wild.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Refer to Cisco advisory for specific patched versions
Vendor Advisory: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-unauth-rce-ZAd2GnJ6
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Review Cisco advisory for affected versions. 2. Download and apply the appropriate patch from Cisco. 3. Restart affected ISE services or systems as required. 4. Verify patch application and system functionality.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Access Control
allRestrict access to ISE management interfaces to trusted IP addresses only
Configure ACLs on network devices to limit access to ISE management IPs/ports
API Disablement
allDisable the vulnerable API if not required for operations
Consult Cisco documentation for specific API disablement procedures
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Isolate ISE systems in a dedicated VLAN with strict access controls
- Implement network-based intrusion prevention systems with signatures for this CVE
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check ISE version against affected versions in Cisco advisoryCheck Version:
show version (on ISE CLI) or check via ISE GUIVerify Fix Applied:
Verify ISE version matches patched version from advisory and test API functionality📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual API requests to ISE management interfaces
- Failed authentication attempts followed by successful API calls
- System process creation from web/API services
Network Indicators:
- Unusual traffic patterns to ISE management ports from unexpected sources
- HTTP requests with crafted payloads to vulnerable API endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="ISE" AND (http_method="POST" OR http_method="PUT") AND uri_path="/api/vulnerable-endpoint" AND src_ip NOT IN trusted_networks