CVE-2026-20283 Cisco Identity Services Engine IPSec Open API Command Injection Vulnerability
Authenticated attackers with admin credentials can inject commands into the IPsec API to execute arbitrary code and escalate privileges to root.
- 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-2026-20283?
CVE-2026-20283 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine Software, published on 16 Sep 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Official description
A vulnerability in the IPsec Open API endpoint of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to inject arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input in IPsec Open API calls. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted input to the IPsec Open API endpoint on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials and the node must have more than one network interface, one of which must be configured as an active IPsec tunnel. Note: For CVE-2026-20283, Cisco has assigned a Security Impact Rating (SIR) of High rather than Medium as the score indicates. The reason is that it is easy to get to root from the achieved privilege level.
Weakness: CWE-78
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-20283?
How do I fix CVE-2026-20283?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-20283 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.
Is CVE-2026-20283 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-20283 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-6q33-6xqh-fh6f.