Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco
CVE-2018-0212
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against a user of the web-based management interface of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input by the web-based management interface of an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by persuading a user of the interface to click a crafted link. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary script code in the context of the interface or allow the attacker to access sensitive browser-based information. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvf69963.
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 confidenceCross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine web-based management interface due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by tricking users into clicking crafted malicious links, allowing execution of arbitrary script code in the context of the interface or access to sensitive browser-based information.
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
= 2.1\(0.474\)= 2.1\(0.904\)= 2.2\(0.470\)= 2.3\(0.298\)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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Cisco ISE is deployedReview your infrastructure inventory or search for processes named 'ise' or services listening on ports commonly used by Cisco ISE (ports 443, 8443 for the web UI).Affected if Cisco Identity Services Engine software is installed in the environment
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Identify installed Cisco ISE versionLog into the Cisco ISE admin UI and navigate to Administration > System > Settings > Product Versions, or run 'show version' command via the CLI. Note the full build number in parentheses.Affected if The build number matches exactly 2.1(0.474), 2.1(0.904), 2.2(0.470), or 2.3(0.298)
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Check web management interface exposureDetermine if the Cisco ISE web-based management interface (typically on port 443 or 8443) is accessible from untrusted networks by reviewing firewall rules or performing a port scan of external-facing IPs.Affected if The admin web interface is reachable from the internet or untrusted networks
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Verify vulnerable parameter handlingSince this is an XSS via insufficient input validation, review any custom or third-party integrations that pass user-supplied data to the ISE web interface URL parameters. No direct file check is possible as this is a runtime input validation flaw.Affected if External users or integrations can submit crafted input to the web interface without sanitization
You are affected if Cisco Identity Services Engine is installed and the exact build number matches 2.1(0.474), 2.1(0.904), 2.2(0.470), or 2.3(0.298) AND the web management interface is accessible.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply the vendor patch when available. Until then, implement input validation and output encoding on all user-supplied fields, deploy Content Security Policy headers, and conduct user awareness training to mitigate social engineering risks.
Fix this in Identity Services Engine
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-0212 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-0212 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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
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