Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco
CVE-2022-20961
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 request forgery (CSRF) attack and perform arbitrary actions on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient CSRF protections for the web-based management interface of an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by persuading a user of the interface to follow a crafted link. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to perform arbitrary actions on the affected device with the privileges of the target user.
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 request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Cisco ISE web-based management interface allows unauthenticated remote attackers to trick authenticated users into executing unintended administrative actions via malicious links, due to missing or inadequate CSRF token validation and SameSite cookie protections.
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
< 2.6.0= 2.6.0= 2.7.0= 3.0.0= 3.1CVSS 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
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify Cisco ISE versionLog into the Cisco ISE web admin portal and navigate to Administration > System > Licensing, or use the CLI command 'show version' to retrieve the installed software version.Affected if The installed version is < 2.6.0, or exactly 2.6.0, 2.7.0, 3.0.0, or 3.1
-
Confirm web-based management interface is enabledVerify that the Cisco ISE web-based management interface is accessible and in use by attempting to reach the admin portal URL (typically https://<ise-host>/admin/) or checking via CLI that the web service is running.Affected if The web management interface is accessible and the version falls within the affected range
-
Check for CSRF token implementation (optional/advanced)Inspect the HTML source of a Cisco ISE admin portal page by viewing page source in a browser. Look for hidden form fields containing CSRF tokens (typically named 'csrfToken', 'csrf', or similar) on state-changing forms like user creation, policy modification, or system configuration.Affected if No CSRF tokens are present in the HTML forms and the version is affected
-
Check SameSite cookie attributes (optional/advanced)Using browser developer tools (Application tab > Cookies), examine the session cookies for the Cisco ISE admin portal. Check if the 'SameSite' attribute is set to 'Strict' or 'Lax', or if it is missing/blank.Affected if The SameSite attribute is missing, set to 'None', or not configured, and the version is affected
A user is affected if Cisco ISE version is < 2.6.0, 2.6.0, 2.7.0, 3.0.0, or 3.1 and the web management interface is enabled.
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.
dbcve · scoped2.6.0
Implement anti-CSRF tokens for all state-changing operations and configure SameSite attributes on session cookies to prevent cross-origin requests.
Cisco ISE version 3.1.0 or later (e.g., 3.1.0, 3.2.0)
- 1. Back up the current Cisco ISE configuration to ensure data preservation before upgrade.
- 2. Review Cisco ISE upgrade documentation and ensure the system meets hardware and software prerequisites for the target version.
- 3. Download the fixed Cisco ISE version (3.1.0 or later) from the Cisco Software Download center.
- 4. Schedule a maintenance window as the upgrade may require downtime.
- 5. Upload the upgrade bundle to the Cisco ISE primary node.
- 6. Initiate the upgrade process following Cisco's standard upgrade procedure for ISE nodes (primary first, then secondary nodes if clustered).
- 7. After upgrade completes, verify the ISE services are running correctly.
- 8. Validate that the CSRF vulnerability is remediated by confirming the fixed version is installed.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Identity Services Engine
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 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 $7,968.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-20961 — 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-2022-20961 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data