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Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco

CVE-2017-12261

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-11-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A vulnerability in the restricted shell of the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) that is accessible via SSH could allow an authenticated, local attacker to run arbitrary CLI commands with elevated privileges. The vulnerability is due to incomplete input validation of the user input for CLI commands issued at the restricted shell. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the targeted device and executing commands that could lead to elevated privileges. An attacker would need valid user credentials to the device to exploit this vulnerability. The vulnerability affects the following Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) products running Release 1.4, 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0: ISE, ISE Express, ISE Virtual Appliance. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCve74916.

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 · high confidence

A restricted shell bypass vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) allows an authenticated local attacker with valid SSH credentials to execute arbitrary CLI commands with elevated privileges due to incomplete input validation in the restricted shell.

MitigationApply the Cisco vendor patch for CSCve74916 or upgrade to a patched Cisco ISE release beyond version 2.1.0.

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 EngineApplication
Affected:= 1.4= 2.0= 2.0.1= 2.1.0
Identity Services Engine ExpressApplication
Affected:= 1.4= 2.0= 2.0.1= 2.1.0
Identity Services Engine Virtual ApplianceApplication
Affected:= 1.4= 2.0= 2.0.1= 2.1.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Identify Cisco ISE installation
    Run 'show version' or check the system banner via SSH login to confirm the device is Cisco Identity Services Engine, ISE Express, or ISE Virtual Appliance
    Affected if The device is any of these three products
  2. Check installed version number
    Run 'show version' or access the ISE admin web UI to view the exact version (such as 1.4, 2.0, 2.0.1, or 2.1.0)
    Affected if The installed version matches exactly 1.4, 2.0, 2.0.1, or 2.1.0
  3. Confirm SSH access is enabled
    Run 'show ssh server status' or check the ISE admin UI under Administration > System > Settings > SSH Settings
    Affected if SSH server is enabled and accepting connections
  4. Verify restricted shell is in use
    Log in via SSH and attempt to access the CLI. Observe whether you are placed in a restricted shell (often indicated by '>' prompt rather than a full shell)
    Affected if The SSH session lands in a restricted shell environment rather than a full operating system shell

A user is affected if they have a Cisco ISE, ISE Express, or ISE Virtual Appliance running version 1.4, 2.0, 2.0.1, or 2.1.0 with SSH access enabled and the restricted shell in use.

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

Apply the Cisco vendor patch for CSCve74916 or upgrade to a patched Cisco ISE release beyond version 2.1.0.

Fix this in Identity Services Engine Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2017-12261 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data