On 2025-07-28, CISA added CVE-2025-20281 (Cisco Identity Services Engine) to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog [2]. The vulnerability is listed in the catalog as "Cisco Identity Services Engine Injection Vulnerability" [2]. CISA requires remediation in accordance with the listed vendor mitigation guidance; see the original text in the body for specific requirements [2].
Backfill: this event became public on Jul 28, 2025 and we added it on Nov 10, 2026. It is not a new event.
CISA Adds Cisco Identity Services Engine Vulnerability CVE-2025-20281 to Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog
1 min read
- Disclosed
- Jul 28, 2025
- Published
- Nov 10, 2026
- Last updated
- Nov 8, 2026
- CVSS basis
- Our assessment
- 97.6%, higher than 100% of CVEs
- Exploitation and patch status
- ExploitedKEV
- Attack vector
- Vulnerability status
- Actor type
- Motivation
On this page
30-second summary
What happened
Who is affected
Industries mainly affected: Government, Cross-industry
What to do nowOur advice
CISA requires remediation in accordance with the listed vendor mitigation guidance; see the original text in the body for specific requirements [2].
Timeline
Technical details
CISA KEV Listing Record
CISA added CVE-2025-20281 (Cisco Identity Services Engine) to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities () catalog on 2025-07-28 [2].
Original Technical Description
Cisco Identity Services Engine contains an injection vulnerability in a specific API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input allowing an attacker to exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted API request. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to perform and obtaining root privileges on an affected device. [2]
Official Required Action
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. [2]
Individual Vulnerability Record
The U.S. National Vulnerability Database (NVD) provides an independent vulnerability record and description for CVE-2025-20281 [1].
References
Official / primary3
- [1]
“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 in”
- [2]
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