VulnerabilityPublished 15 Apr 2026

CVE-2026-20148: Cisco Identity Services Engine Software · Path Traversal

Affects Cisco Identity Services Engine SoftwareSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.9 Medium.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:34 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.9Medium

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

EPSS: 6.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 93% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
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: 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: 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 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 29 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–
CiscoCisco ISE Passive Identity Connector	Affected 3.1.0 – 3.4.0 4 affected builds	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Administrators should restrict administrative access to trusted personnel only and monitor for any unusual file access patterns. Check Cisco's official advisories regularly for updates and patches addressing this vulnerability.

Description

CVE-2026-20148 is a path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) Software versions 3.1.0 through 3.5.0. It allows an authenticated attacker with administrative credentials to send crafted HTTP requests that bypass pathname restrictions and read arbitrary files on the underlying operating system.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows an authenticated attacker with administrative privileges to read arbitrary files on the affected system, potentially exposing sensitive information. The vulnerability does not impact system integrity or availability. Since administrative credentials are required, the attack surface is limited to authorized users.

Summary

This vulnerability arises from improper validation of user-supplied input in Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC, enabling path traversal attacks. An attacker with valid administrative credentials can exploit this by sending specially crafted HTTP requests to access sensitive files outside the intended directory scope. The flaw affects Cisco ISE versions 3.1.0, 3.2.0, 3.3.0, 3.4.0, and 3.5.0. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 4.9, indicating medium severity with high confidentiality impact but no integrity or availability impact. There is no indication of known exploits in the wild or available patches at this time.

References

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-rce-traversal-8bYndVrZ (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 25 Oct 2026, 21:14 UTC

Technical details

References

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