VulnerabilityPublished 6 Aug 2025

CVE-2025-20332: Cisco Identity Services Engine Software · Incorrect Authorization

Affects Cisco Identity Services Engine SoftwareSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 10:12 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 34% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 6 Aug 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software	Affected 2.7.0 – 3.4.0 5 affected builds	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Immediately review and restrict read-only administrator credentials to only trusted personnel and systems, implementing strict access controls and monitoring for unusual activity.
Employ multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrative accounts to reduce the risk of credential compromise.
Monitor Cisco ISE logs and network traffic for anomalous HTTP requests targeting the management interface, especially those attempting to modify configuration metadata.
Segment the management interface network access to limit exposure only to authorized administrators and management stations.
Regularly audit and review configuration changes within Cisco ISE to detect unauthorized modifications promptly.
Stay updated with Cisco security advisories and apply patches or updates as soon as they become available to address this vulnerability.
Consider implementing additional compensating controls such as Web Application Firewalls (WAF) that can detect and block crafted HTTP requests targeting the management interface.
Conduct periodic security assessments and penetration testing focused on administrative interfaces to identify and remediate similar authorization weaknesses.

Description

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to modify parts of the configuration on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to the lack of server-side validation of Administrator permissions. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted HTTP request to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to modify descriptions of files on a specific page. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need valid read-only Administrator credentials.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of this vulnerability could be significant in environments where Cisco ISE is deployed to manage network access and enforce security policies. Unauthorized modification of configuration descriptions, while seemingly minor, could facilitate further misconfigurations or hide malicious changes, potentially undermining network security posture. Attackers with read-only credentials could leverage this flaw to manipulate administrative metadata, which might be used as a stepping stone for more advanced attacks or to cover tracks during an intrusion. Given Cisco ISE’s role in controlling network access, any compromise or misconfiguration could lead to unauthorized network access or policy bypass, impacting confidentiality and integrity of sensitive data. The medium severity score suggests that while the immediate damage is limited, the vulnerability could be exploited as part of a larger attack chain. European organizations in critical infrastructure, finance, telecommunications, and government sectors that rely heavily on Cisco ISE for network policy enforcement are particularly at risk. The requirement for valid credentials limits exposure to insider threats or attackers who have already compromised low-privilege accounts, emphasizing the importance of strong credential management and monitoring.

References

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise_xss_acc_cont-YsR4uT4U (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 6 Aug 2025, 16:47 UTC

Technical details

References

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