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Identity Services Engine SoftwareApplication · Cisco

CVE-2013-5539

MEDIUM · 6.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-10-16
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
66/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The upload-dialog implementation in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) allows remote authenticated users to upload files with an arbitrary file type, and consequently conduct attacks against unspecified other systems, via a crafted file, aka Bug ID CSCui67511.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

The upload-dialog in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) fails to validate file types during upload, allowing authenticated remote users to upload files with arbitrary extensions. This could enable uploading of malicious files that might be used to attack the ISE system itself or other systems that interact with uploaded content.

MitigationImplement strict server-side validation of uploaded file types, including magic byte/file content validation rather than relying solely on file extensions, and restrict uploads to only those file types required for legitimate ISE operations.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Identity Services Engine SoftwareApplication
Affected:all versions
Identity Services EngineHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
Single
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Cisco ISE admin interface accessibility
    Access the Cisco ISE administrative web interface and navigate to the upload functionality (typically under Administration > System > Backup & Restore or similar upload features). Confirm the upload-dialog feature is present and accessible.
    Affected if The upload-dialog feature is present and accessible to authenticated users.
  2. Check upload file type validation settings
    In the ISE admin interface, examine the configuration for upload functionality for any file type, extension, or MIME type restrictions. Look for settings that whitelist or blacklist specific file types.
    Affected if No file type validation is configured, or validation can be bypassed by changing file extensions.
  3. Inspect upload policy configuration
    Review ISE configuration files or policy settings related to file uploads, typically found in the administration portal under upload-related configurations or in the underlying system configuration.
    Affected if The upload policy either allows all file types or lacks explicit restrictions on file extensions.
  4. Test upload with arbitrary extension
    Using an authenticated session, attempt to upload a file with a non-standard or potentially malicious extension (such as .exe, .php, .jsp) through the upload-dialog. Observe whether the upload succeeds without validation errors.
    Affected if Files with arbitrary extensions are accepted and stored by the upload feature.

A user is affected if the Cisco ISE upload-dialog feature is accessible and allows uploading files with arbitrary or non-standard extensions without proper file type validation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement strict server-side validation of uploaded file types, including magic byte/file content validation rather than relying solely on file extensions, and restrict uploads to only those file types required for legitimate ISE operations.

Fix this in Identity Services Engine Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,580
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2013-5539 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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