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Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco

CVE-2022-20822

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-10-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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 web-based management interface of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to read and delete files on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request that contains certain character sequences to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read or delete specific files on the device that their configured administrative level should not have access to. Cisco plans to release software updates that address this vulnerability.

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 path traversal vulnerability in Cisco ISE's web-based management interface allows authenticated attackers to read and delete files outside their authorized scope by sending crafted HTTP requests with specific character sequences. The issue stems from insufficient input validation on user-supplied parameters.

MitigationApply the Cisco software update when released. Until then, restrict administrative access to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious HTTP requests with unusual character sequences in URL paths.

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:= 3.1= 3.2

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if Cisco ISE is deployed
    Review your infrastructure inventory or run 'show version' on network devices to identify Cisco Identity Services Engine installations
    Affected if Cisco ISE is present in the environment
  2. Check the installed Cisco ISE version
    Log into the Cisco ISE CLI and run 'show version' or access the web UI and navigate to Administration > System > Settings > Product Version to confirm the exact version number
    Affected if The version is 3.1.x or 3.2.x (any minor release)
  3. Determine if web-based management interface is enabled
    In the Cisco ISE web UI, go to Administration > System > Settings > Admin Access Settings to verify if the web-based management interface is enabled and accessible
    Affected if The web-based management interface is accessible and enabled

You are affected if Cisco ISE version 3.1.x or 3.2.x is running and the web-based management interface is enabled, as the path traversal vulnerability can be exploited via crafted HTTP requests.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Cisco software update when released. Until then, restrict administrative access to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious HTTP requests with unusual character sequences in URL paths.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Cisco ISE version 3.3 or later

  1. 1. Backup current ISE configuration using the admin web interface or CLI (ise backup export)
  2. 2. Download Cisco ISE 3.3 or later from Cisco Software Download (software.cisco.com)
  3. 3. Upgrade ISE via admin web interface: Administration > System > Upgrade > Software Images, or via CLI
  4. 4. Verify upgrade completed successfully by checking version under Administration > System > Licensing > Software Version
  5. 5. Validate that the path traversal vulnerability is remediated by confirming file access restrictions work correctly
Caveat Review ISE 3.3 release notes for any configuration changes or deprecated features before upgrading; test in staging environment first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Identity Services Engine Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2022-20822 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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