KEV Intelligence

Vulnerability report

Active exploitation observed Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2025-20281

Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Cisco / Cisco Identity Services Engine Software · 3.3.0

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Severity
CVSS 10.0 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Observed in sensors
EPSS
97.1%
First observed
19 Jul 2026
Last observed
17 Aug 2026

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2025-20281 is an unauthenticated Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. A vulnerability in a specific API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker...

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence sensors observed exploitation attempts with confirmed confidence.

Who is affected?

Cisco / Cisco Identity Services Engine Software 3.3.0.

What should we do?

Patch immediately, validate internet-facing exposure, and monitor for matching requests.

Overview

Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

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.

This 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.

Vendor Product Affected Status
Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software 3.3.0 Affected
Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software 3.3 Patch 2 Affected
Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software 3.3 Patch 1 Affected
Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software 3.3 Patch 3 Affected
Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software 3.4.0 Affected
Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software 3.3 Patch 4 Affected
Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software 3.4 Patch 1 Affected
Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software 3.3 Patch 5 Affected
Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software 3.3 Patch 6 Affected
Published
25 Jun 2025
Exploitation Reported
01 Jun 2026
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

cisa nuclei_scanner edge

CVE References

  • CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-20281
  • cisco-sa-ise-unauth-rce-ZAd2GnJ6 sec.cloudapps.cisco.com · CVE Record https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurity...

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CVE

Recorded 01 Jun 2026

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Active exploitation observed

KEV Intelligence sensor

First observed 19 Jul 2026

First-party sensor telemetry confirms matching exploitation attempts.

Proof of concept available

Nuclei Templates

Recorded 12 Jun 2026

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.

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Source Added
CVE First 2026-06-01 10:37 UTC
CISA 2026-06-02 14:06 UTC
KEV Intelligence 2026-08-13 15:11 UTC

Operational indicators for this CVE are listed under Detection.

Sensor telemetry

First-party evidence of exploitation activity

Aggregate observations show the scale, recency, and distribution of activity without overstating sparse data.

12

Attempts observed

10

Unique attacker IPs

5

Attacker countries

CN · IN · JP · NL · US

5

Sensors observed

Exploitation attempts over the last 33 days

Daily events observed by KEV Intelligence sensors

Updated 19 Aug 2026

0
8
0
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
2
1
1
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
0
2
0
0
18 Jul 25 Jul 1 Aug 8 Aug 19 Aug

First observed 19 Jul 2026 · Last observed 17 Aug 2026

Pro adds sensor region and window summaries. Enterprise adds raw IPs, paths, User-Agents, and payloads.

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Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
3
User-Agents
12

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

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Attacker IP Indicators

Attacker IP indicators observed · available in Pro and Enterprise.

Sensor-derived attacker IP indicators are available to Pro and Enterprise accounts under Detection and through the Pro API.

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Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2025/CVE-2025-20281.yaml 01 Jun 2026

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

10.0 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

97.1%

Weaknesses

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection') CWE-74

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

Cisco ISE - Remote Code Execution

nuclei · Created Unknown

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. Observed by KEV Intelligence sensors

    Evidence-backed exploitation signal

  2. Indicators of compromise added (13)

    Indicators of compromise recorded

  3. Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  4. Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  5. Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  6. Added to KEV Intelligence KEV Feed

    High-confidence, third-party attested exploitation

  7. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  8. CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2025-20281

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2025-20281",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 10.0,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.97069,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": true
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 12, "sensors": 5 }
}

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