VulnerabilityPublished 15 Apr 2026

CVE-2026-20136: Cisco Identity Services Engine Software · Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output

Affects Cisco Identity Services Engine SoftwareSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.0 Medium.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.0Medium

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

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 42% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

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

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

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
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: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to 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 15 Apr 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 30 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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), 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
CiscoCisco Identity Services Engine Software	Affected 3.1.0 – 3.5.0 5 affected builds	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Until an official fix is available, restrict administrative access to trusted personnel only and monitor for any unusual activity. Do not rely on generic mitigations as this vulnerability specifically involves command injection via CLI input validation.

Description

CVE-2026-20136 is a vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC) that allows an authenticated local attacker with administrative privileges to perform command injection. This occurs due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input in a specific CLI command, enabling privilege escalation to root on the underlying operating system. The vulnerability affects multiple versions of Cisco ISE software up to 3.5 Patch 2 and has a CVSS score of 6. No official patch or remediation guidance has been provided yet. There are no known exploits in the wild at this time.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows an authenticated local attacker with administrative privileges to escalate their privileges to root on the underlying operating system. This can lead to full control over the affected system, compromising confidentiality and integrity of data. Availability is not impacted. The vulnerability requires local access and administrative privileges, limiting the attack surface.

Summary

This vulnerability involves improper encoding or escaping of output in the CLI of Cisco Identity Services Engine and its Passive Identity Connector. An authenticated local attacker with administrative privileges can exploit insufficient input validation in a CLI command to inject commands on the underlying OS, resulting in privilege escalation to root. The issue affects a broad range of Cisco ISE versions from 3.1.0 through 3.5 Patch 2. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.0, indicating a medium severity with local attack vector, low attack complexity, and high impact on confidentiality and integrity but no impact on availability.

References

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-cmd-inj-5WSJcYJB (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 22 Apr 2026, 23:16 UTC

Technical details

References

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