Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco
CVE-2020-3157
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 authenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against a user of the web-based interface. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input to the web-based management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a malicious configuration and saving it to the targeted system. An exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary script code in the context of the affected interface or access sensitive, browser-based information when an administrator views the configuration. An attacker would need write permissions to exploit this vulnerability successfully.
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 (ISE) web-based management interface. An authenticated attacker with write permissions can inject malicious script through crafted configuration parameters due to insufficient input validation, allowing execution of arbitrary 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
<= 2.7CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 presentIdentify if Cisco Identity Services Engine is installed in your environment by checking for ISE-related processes, services, or the application directory structureAffected if Cisco ISE software is found on the system
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Check the installed ISE versionUse the ISE CLI command 'show version' or 'show udi' to retrieve the running version, then compare it to the affected range of version 2.7 and belowAffected if The installed version is 2.7 or any earlier version
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Verify web-based management interface is accessibleConfirm the ISE web-based management interface (GUI) is enabled and reachable by checking the HTTP/HTTPS service status or attempting access to the management URLAffected if The ISE web management interface is exposed and operational
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Review admin accounts with write permissionsCheck the ISE admin user database for accounts that have write privileges by examining the administrative user roles and permissions configurationAffected if There are administrator accounts with write permissions enabled on the ISE system
You are affected if Cisco ISE version 2.7 or below is installed, the web-based management interface is enabled, and administrator accounts with write permissions exist in the system.
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 Cisco patch for CVE-2020-3157 when available. Until then, restrict write permissions to the ISE management interface to only essential administrators and review existing admin accounts for necessity.
Fix this in Identity Services Engine
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 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 $3,968.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3157 — 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-2020-3157 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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