# CVE-2017-12261: Privilege escalation in Cisco Identity Services Engine

> An authenticated local attacker can execute arbitrary CLI commands with elevated privileges due to incomplete input validation in the restricted shell.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Nov 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vfpm-r25x-9hg6

## What is CVE-2017-12261?

CVE-2017-12261 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine, published on 2 Nov 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the restricted shell of the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) that is accessible via SSH could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary CLI commands with elevated privileges. The vulnerability is due to incomplete input validation of the user input for CLI commands issued at the restricted shell. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the targeted device and executing commands that could lead to elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid user credentials to the device to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability affects the following Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) products running Release 1.4, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0: ISE, ISE Express, ISE Virtual Appliance. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCve74916.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization), CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-12261?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Cisco Identity Services Engine, Cisco Identity Services Engine Express, Cisco Identity Services Engine Virtual Appliance.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-12261?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-12261 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-12261 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12261 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Identity Services Engine

- [CVE-2026-76460](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76460/): Cisco Identity Services Engine Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-20337](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20337/): Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-20281](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20281/): Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-20130](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20130/): Cisco Identity Services Engine Hardening Release - Improper Neutralization Vulnerabilities (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2026-20192](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20192/): Cisco Identity Services Engine Hardening Release - Access Control Vulnerabilities (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-12261 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-12261 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine, published on 2 Nov 2017. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12261 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Identity Services Engine. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12261/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12261/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-12261
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-12261
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-12261

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12261/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.