CVE-2026-20186

Cisco · Identity Services Engine (ISE)

A command injection vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine allows authenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands and potentially gain root privileges.

Executive summary

An authenticated remote command execution vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) poses a critical risk to network infrastructure and system availability.

Vulnerability

This vulnerability arises from insufficient input validation, allowing an attacker with at least Read Only Admin credentials to execute arbitrary OS commands via crafted HTTP requests. Successful exploitation grants user-level access, which can be further escalated to root privileges or result in a denial-of-service condition.

Business impact

The compromise of Cisco ISE infrastructure can lead to full system takeover and unauthorized access to critical network management functions. With a CVSS score of 9.9, this vulnerability represents a severe threat; if exploited, an attacker could disrupt network authentication services, causing widespread connectivity loss for endpoints and significant operational downtime.

Remediation

Immediate Action: Apply the latest security patches provided by Cisco to all affected ISE nodes immediately.

Proactive Monitoring: Review administrative access logs for anomalous HTTP requests and audit command execution history on ISE appliances.

Compensating Controls: Restrict administrative network access to ISE management interfaces to trusted, hardened management subnets or via VPN.

Exploitation status

Public Exploit Available: Not specified

Analyst recommendation

Given the critical CVSS score of 9.9 and the potential for complete system compromise, organizations should prioritize patching Cisco ISE environments. Administrators must audit existing administrative accounts to ensure the principle of least privilege is strictly enforced while awaiting the vendor's update.