CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2025-20337 — Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection Vulnerability

Critical CVSS 10 CISA KEV

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.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
10 (3.1)
Published
2025-07-16
CISA KEV
Known exploited
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-74

Affected products

  • cisco / identity_services_engine / 3.3.0
  • cisco / identity_services_engine / 3.4.0
  • cisco / identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector / 3.3.0

Showing 3 representative product identities from 18 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Command, code, expression, and template injection

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
  • Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
  • Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.

Remediate safely

  • Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
  • Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
  • Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

The detailed catalog view below loads this exact record, its source evidence, and the full seven-phase agentic change plan.