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Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco

CVE-2023-20175

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 a specific Cisco ISE CLI command could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform command injection attacks on the underlying operating system and elevate privileges to root. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must have valid Read-only-level privileges or higher on the affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability 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 · high confidence

Cisco ISE contains a command injection vulnerability in a specific CLI command where insufficient validation of user-supplied input allows an authenticated attacker with read-only privileges to execute arbitrary operating system commands and escalate privileges to root.

MitigationApply the vendor patch when available; until then, restrict CLI access to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious command activity.

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:= 2.6.0= 2.7.0= 3.0.0= 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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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. Identify installed Cisco ISE version
    Log into the Cisco ISE admin UI or use the 'show version' CLI command to determine the running version. Alternatively, check the 'ise-version' file or the admin dashboard About page.
    Affected if The installed version is 2.6.0, 2.7.0, 3.0.0, 3.1, or 3.2
  2. Verify CLI read-only user accounts exist
    Check the Cisco ISE admin UI under Administration > User Management > Users or use 'show running-config' in the CLI to enumerate accounts with privilege-level read-only access.
    Affected if There are any user accounts configured with read-only CLI privileges, as these can exploit the vulnerability
  3. Review recent CLI command execution logs
    Search the Cisco ISE monitoring logs (Under Administration > Logging > Logging Categories, ensure CLI command logging is enabled) for suspicious or unexpected commands executed by read-only users.
    Affected if There are CLI commands executed by read-only privilege users that are unusual or appear to be attempting command injection
  4. Check for unauthorized privilege escalation
    Review audit logs for any instances where a read-only user executed commands that required higher privileges or accessed restricted areas.
    Affected if Audit logs show read-only users executing privileged commands they should not have access to

A user is affected if their Cisco ISE version is 2.6.0, 2.7.0, 3.0.0, 3.1, or 3.2 AND they have CLI users with read-only privileges that could potentially execute the vulnerable command.

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 vendor patch when available; until then, restrict CLI access to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious command activity.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

ISE 3.1 with latest patch (or ISE 3.2) - contact Cisco for exact fixed version

  1. 1. Backup the Cisco ISE configuration before starting the upgrade process
  2. 2. Download the fixed ISE version from Cisco (refer to Cisco ISE advisory for exact patch version)
  3. 3. Schedule a maintenance window as upgrades require downtime
  4. 4. Access the ISE admin CLI or PAN (Policy Administration Node)
  5. 5. Navigate to the software upgrade section and initiate the upgrade
  6. 6. Wait for the upgrade to complete and for all nodes to come back online
  7. 7. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the ISE version and ensuring services are running
  8. 8. Confirm the vulnerability is remediated by verifying the affected CLI command no longer allows command injection
Caveat Upgrade requires downtime; ensure configuration compatibility and 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
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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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-2023-20175 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