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Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco

CVE-2023-20153

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-05
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
Multiple vulnerabilities in specific Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) CLI commands could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform command injection attacks on the underlying operating system and elevate privileges to root. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker must have valid Administrator privileges on the affected device. These vulnerabilities are due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by submitting a crafted CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to root.

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 confidence

Multiple vulnerabilities in specific Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) CLI commands allow an authenticated Administrator to perform command injection attacks on the underlying operating system. The vulnerabilities stem from insufficient validation of user-supplied input in the CLI, enabling attackers to submit crafted commands that execute with elevated privileges. Successful exploitation grants the attacker root-level access to the device.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied Cisco ISE patches for CVE-2023-20153 when available. Until patched, strictly limit Administrator-level CLI access and monitor for suspicious command 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:= 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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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. Determine Cisco ISE software version
    Log into the ISE admin UI or use the CLI command 'show version' to retrieve the installed ISE version number
    Affected if The installed version is 3.2 (exact match)
  2. Confirm CLI interface is accessible
    Verify that the Cisco ISE CLI is reachable via console, SSH, or management interface. Use 'show cli mode' or attempt to enter privileged EXEC mode
    Affected if CLI interface is accessible and functional
  3. Identify Administrator accounts with CLI privileges
    From the ISE admin UI, go to Administration > Identity Management > Identities > Users. Review accounts with Administrator privileges that have CLI access enabled
    Affected if Any Administrator-level user account exists with CLI access permissions
  4. Review CLI command history for suspicious patterns
    Use the 'show running-configuration' or review ISE system logs for recent CLI commands. Look for unexpected commands containing semicolons, pipes, or other shell metacharacters
    Affected if Recent CLI commands contain suspicious injection patterns or unexpected system commands
  5. Check for unexpected privileged processes or root shells
    If you have backend access, review system processes and check for unexpected root-level processes or shells spawned from ISE services
    Affected if Unexpected processes running as root or shell spawns from ISE components

If Cisco ISE version 3.2 is running with Administrator CLI access enabled, the environment is vulnerable to command injection via insufficiently validated CLI input.

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 the vendor-supplied Cisco ISE patches for CVE-2023-20153 when available. Until patched, strictly limit Administrator-level CLI access and monitor for suspicious command patterns.

Fix this in Identity Services Engine Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2023-20153 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data