Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco
CVE-2018-15455
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 logging component of Cisco Identity Services Engine could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct cross-site scripting attacks. The vulnerability is due to the improper validation of requests stored in the system's logging database. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending malicious requests to the targeted system. An exploit could allow the attacker to conduct cross-site scripting attacks when an administrator views the logs in the Admin Portal.
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 confidenceA stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine's logging component allows unauthenticated remote attackers to inject malicious scripts into the logging database via specially crafted requests. When administrators view these logs in the Admin Portal, the injected JavaScript executes in their browser context, potentially enabling session hijacking or credential theft.
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
= 2.2\(0.910\)= 2.3\(0.905\)= 2.4\(0.903\)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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Identify Cisco ISE installed versionAccess the ISE admin GUI and navigate to Administration > System > Settings > Product Version, or use the CLI command 'show version' to determine the exact software version.Affected if The installed version matches exactly 2.2(0.910), 2.3(0.905), or 2.4(0.903).
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Verify Admin Portal accessibilityConfirm that the ISE Admin Portal (typically port 443 or 8443) is reachable from network segments where untrusted users could potentially send requests.Affected if The Admin Portal is exposed to untrusted or external networks without proper access controls.
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Examine logging database for suspicious entriesIn the ISE admin GUI, navigate to Operations > RADIUS > Live Logs or the general logging viewer. Look for log entries containing unusual characters such as <script>, javascript:, onload, onerror, or encoded equivalents like %3Cscript%3E.Affected if Log entries contain XSS payload patterns or unexpected HTML/JavaScript tags that were not intentionally inserted by administrators.
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Check for unauthenticated logging injection pointsReview network access controls and determine whether the ISE interface that accepts logging inputs (such as the sponsor portal or guest portal) can be accessed without authentication.Affected if Unauthenticated interfaces that feed into the logging system are accessible to untrusted users.
You are affected if your Cisco ISE version is exactly 2.2(0.910), 2.3(0.905), or 2.4(0.903) AND the Admin Portal or logging injection points are accessible to untrusted users, resulting in the presence of malicious script tags in your log data.
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 from Cisco for CVE-2018-15455. Until patched, restrict administrative access to trusted personnel only and monitor logs for suspicious request patterns.
Fix this in Identity Services Engine
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-15455 — 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-2018-15455 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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