VulnerabilityPublished 16 Sep 2026

CVE-2026-20286: Cisco Identity Services Engine Software · Improper Authorization

Affects Cisco Identity Services Engine SoftwareSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium.

Data as of 31 Oct 2026, 08:20 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 40% 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:N/I:L/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: Low
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: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on 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 16 Sep 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 a fix is available, ensure that Administrator credentials are tightly controlled and monitored to prevent unauthorized access and exploitation.

Description

CVE-2026-20286 is a medium severity vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine Software versions 3.1.0, 3.2.0, 3.3.0, 3.4.0, and 3.5.0. It allows an authenticated remote attacker with valid Administrator credentials to modify parts of the device configuration through the web-based management interface due to improper server-side authorization validation. The attacker can submit crafted HTTP requests to change descriptions of files on a specific page. No confidentiality or availability impact is reported.

Impact

An attacker with valid Administrator credentials can modify configuration descriptions on the affected Cisco ISE device. There is no impact on confidentiality or availability. The integrity impact is limited to modification of descriptions, which may affect configuration accuracy but does not directly compromise system confidentiality or availability.

Summary

This vulnerability arises from a lack of server-side validation of Administrator permissions in the web-based management interface of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). An attacker with valid Administrator credentials can exploit this by sending crafted HTTP requests to modify configuration elements, specifically file descriptions, on the affected device. The vulnerability affects Cisco ISE versions 3.1.0 through 3.5.0 inclusive. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 4.3, reflecting low complexity and limited impact on integrity only.

References

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-auth-bypass-1-MxcTNgwx (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 24 Sep 2026, 05:34 UTC

Technical details

References

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