{"answers":{"affected":"It affects 2 products.","exploited":"Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2025-20281 in the wild since at least 28 Jul 2025.","fix":"No fix has been published for CVE-2025-20281 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. US federal agencies must fix it by 18 Aug 2025.","what":"CVE-2025-20281 is a critical code injection vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine, published on 25 Jun 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim."},"fix_prompt":"Check this codebase for CVE-2025-20281 and fix it if it is affected.\n\nWhat it is: CVE-2025-20281 is a critical code injection vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine, published on 25 Jun 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.\nExploitation: Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2025-20281 in the wild since at least 28 Jul 2025.\n\nAffected product: Cisco Identity Services Engine. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.\n\nTask:\n1. 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.\n2. 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.\n3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.\n4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.\n5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.\n\nReference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20281/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20281/index.md)","id":"CVE-2025-20281","markdown":"https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20281/index.md","name":"CVE-2025-20281","record":{"aliases":["GHSA-rc4f-42xm-hvjw"],"analysis":{"component_type":"server_software","fix_type":"patch","impacts":["code_execution","privilege_escalation"],"network_reachable":"yes","non_default_config":false,"product_category":"Cisco Identity Services Engine","requires_auth":"none","summary":"Unauthenticated remote attackers can execute arbitrary code as root on Cisco ISE devices via crafted API requests due to insufficient input validation.","user_interaction":"not_required","vuln_class":"code_injection"},"analysis_generated_by":"qwen3.8-flash-next","assigner":"cisco","cpe":[{"product":"identity_services_engine","vendor":"cisco"},{"product":"identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector","vendor":"cisco"}],"cvss":{"score":10,"severity":"critical","source":"cna","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H","version":"3.1"},"cwes":[{"id":"CWE-74","name":"Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component"}],"description":"A vulnerability in a specific API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system as root. The attacker does not require any valid credentials to exploit this vulnerability.\r\n\r\nThis vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted API request. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain root privileges on an affected device.","ecosystems":[],"exploits":{"exploitdb":0,"first_seen":"2025-06-27","github_poc":3,"max_poc_stars":21,"metasploit":0,"nuclei":1,"refs":[{"date":"2025-06-27T21:07:27Z","kind":"github_poc","ref":"https://github.com/abrewer251/CVE-2025-20281-2-Cisco-ISE-RCE","stars":21,"title":"Unauthenticated Python PoC for CVE-2025-20281 RCE against ISE ERS API"},{"date":"2025-07-03T02:10:37Z","kind":"github_poc","ref":"https://github.com/grupooruss/CVE-2025-20281-Cisco","stars":8,"title":"This script checks for the presence of the **CVE-2025-20281** vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE-PIC, which allows **unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE)** as root due to insufficient input validation in a specific API."},{"date":"2025-07-04T14:59:02Z","kind":"github_poc","ref":"https://github.com/ill-deed/Cisco-CVE-2025-20281-illdeed","stars":5,"title":"Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution exploit for CVE-2025-20281 in Cisco ISE ERS API. Execute commands or launch reverse shells as root — no authentication required."},{"date":null,"kind":"nuclei","ref":"http/cves/2025/CVE-2025-20281.yaml","stars":null,"title":"Cisco ISE - Remote Code Execution"}],"tier":"exploited"},"has_fix":null,"headline":"Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection","id":"CVE-2025-20281","indexable":true,"kev":{"dateAdded":"2025-07-28","dueDate":"2025-08-18","knownRansomwareCampaignUse":"Unknown","product":"Identity Services Engine","requiredAction":"Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.","vendorProject":"Cisco","vulnerabilityName":"Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection Vulnerability"},"kind":"cve","links":{"ecosystem":null,"product":"cisco:identity_services_engine","products":["cisco:identity_services_engine"],"type":"code_injection","year":"2025"},"n_packages":0,"n_references":1,"next":{"headline":"Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability","id":"CVE-2025-20282"},"packages":[],"prev":{"headline":"Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager and Cisco Prime Infrastructure Stored Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability","id":"CVE-2025-20280"},"products":["Cisco Identity Services Engine Software"],"published":"2025-06-25","related":[{"cvss_score":10,"headline":"Cisco Identity Services Engine Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs","id":"CVE-2026-76460","kev_date_added":"2026-09-16","published":"2026-09-16"},{"cvss_score":10,"headline":"Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection","id":"CVE-2025-20337","kev_date_added":"2025-07-28","published":"2025-07-16"},{"cvss_score":10,"headline":"Cisco Identity Services Engine Hardening Release - Improper Neutralization Vulnerabilities","id":"CVE-2026-20130","kev_date_added":null,"published":"2026-09-16"},{"cvss_score":10,"headline":"Cisco Identity Services Engine Hardening Release - Access Control Vulnerabilities","id":"CVE-2026-20192","kev_date_added":null,"published":"2026-09-16"},{"cvss_score":10,"headline":"Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability","id":"CVE-2025-20282","kev_date_added":null,"published":"2025-06-25"},{"cvss_score":10,"headline":"Hardcoded credentials in n/a","id":"CVE-2011-3290","kev_date_added":null,"published":"2011-09-21"}],"sources":[{"class":"attribution","licence":"CVE Terms of Use (MITRE)","name":"CVE List","prefix":"CVE"},{"class":"attribution","licence":"US public information, NVD API terms","name":"NVD"},{"class":"open","licence":"CC0 1.0","name":"CISA KEV"},{"class":"attribution","licence":"CWE Terms of Use","name":"CWE (MITRE)"},{"class":"attribution","licence":"FIRST CVSS licence","name":"CVSS (FIRST)"},{"class":"attribution","licence":"MIT","name":"Nuclei templates"},{"class":"open","licence":"CC0","name":"PoC-in-GitHub"}],"ssvc":{"automatable":"yes","exploitation":"active","technical_impact":"total"},"state":"PUBLISHED","updated":"2026-02-26","vendors":["Cisco"]},"summary":"Unauthenticated remote attackers can execute arbitrary code as root on Cisco ISE devices via crafted API requests due to insufficient input validation.","url":"https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20281/"}