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Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco

CVE-2018-0221

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 specific CLI commands for the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform command injection to the underlying operating system or cause a hang or disconnect of the user session. The attacker needs valid administrator credentials for the device. The vulnerability is due to incomplete input validation of user input for certain CLI ISE configuration commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating as an administrative user, issuing a specific CLI command, and entering crafted, malicious user input for the command parameters. An exploit could allow the attacker to perform command injection to the lower-level Linux operating system. It is also possible the attacker could cause the ISE user interface for this management session to hang or disconnect. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvg95479.

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

Command injection vulnerability in Cisco ISE CLI where incomplete input validation allows authenticated administrators to inject malicious OS commands via certain configuration commands. Successful exploitation provides command execution on the underlying Linux operating system or causes denial of service via UI hang/disconnect.

MitigationApply Cisco patches for bug ID CSCvg95479. Restrict administrative access to trusted personnel and monitor CLI command execution for anomalous input patterns.

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:= 2.0\(0.249\)= 2.1\(0.474\)= 2.2\(0.470\)= 2.2\(0.903\)= 2.3\(0.298\)= 2.4\(0.192\)

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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. Check Cisco ISE version via CLI
    Log into the Cisco ISE CLI and run the command: 'show version' or 'show inventory' to retrieve the installed software version.
    Affected if The displayed version matches any of these: 2.0(0.249), 2.1(0.474), 2.2(0.470), 2.2(0.903), 2.3(0.298), or 2.4(0.192)
  2. Verify version via Cisco ISE Admin UI
    Log into the Cisco ISE Administration GUI, navigate to Administration > System > Software Updates > Software Version to view the installed version.
    Affected if The displayed version matches any of the affected versions listed above
  3. Confirm administrator account access to CLI
    In Cisco ISE Admin UI, navigate to Administration > Identity Management > Identities > Administrators and verify if any admin accounts are configured with CLI access privileges.
    Affected if Admin accounts with CLI access exist and the ISE version is one of the affected versions
  4. Review recent CLI command execution logs
    In Cisco ISE CLI, run 'show logging' or access the ISE GUI via Operations > Reports > CLI Diagnostics > CLI Accounting to review recent administrator CLI commands for anomalous or suspicious input patterns.
    Affected if Unusual or unexpected CLI commands are found in logs, especially in combination with an affected version

A user is affected if their Cisco ISE installation runs version 2.0(0.249), 2.1(0.474), 2.2(0.470), 2.2(0.903), 2.3(0.298), or 2.4(0.192) AND has authenticated administrators with CLI access.

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 Cisco patches for bug ID CSCvg95479. Restrict administrative access to trusted personnel and monitor CLI command execution for anomalous input patterns.

Fix this in Identity Services Engine Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,760
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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-2018-0221 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
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