CVE-2026-20146 Cisco Identity Services Engine Path Traversal Vulnerability

Medium 5.5 Published 15 Jul 2026 Updated 15 Jul 2026

Authenticated attackers can read or delete arbitrary files on Cisco ISE systems via path traversal, requiring administrative credentials.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: An administrator
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2026-20146?

CVE-2026-20146 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine, published on 15 Jul 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to perform path traversal attacks on the underlying operating system to either read or delete arbitrary files. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials.  This vulnerability is due to improper validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access sensitive files or delete arbitrary files on the affected system.

Weakness: CWE-22

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-20146?

It affects 2 products.

Products include Cisco Identity Services Engine, Cisco Identity Services Engine Passive Identity Connector.

How do I fix CVE-2026-20146?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-20146 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.

Is CVE-2026-20146 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-20146 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Cisco Identity Services Engine vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-37fr-rv4j-c6g2.