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Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco

CVE-2024-20532

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.1.0 or later.
See remediation →
61/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 API of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to read and delete arbitrary files on an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need valid Super Admin credentials. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied parameters in API requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted API request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read or delete arbitrary files on the underlying operating system.

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

This is a parameter validation vulnerability in the Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) API that allows authenticated Super Admin users to read or delete arbitrary files on the device's underlying operating system by sending specially crafted API requests with insufficiently validated user-supplied parameters.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patch or updated version of Cisco ISE when available. Until then, limit API access to trusted Super Admin accounts only and monitor API request logs for anomalous file access 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:>= 3.0.0, < 3.1.0= 3.1.0= 3.2.0= 3.3.0

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

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

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

  1. Check Cisco ISE version
    Log into the Cisco ISE admin UI and navigate to Administration > System > Licensing, or run 'show version' via CLI to confirm the installed version
    Affected if Version matches >= 3.0.0, < 3.1.0 OR equals 3.1.0, 3.2.0, or 3.3.0
  2. Verify API access is enabled
    Confirm whether the Cisco ISE REST API service is enabled by checking Administration > Settings > API Settings in the admin GUI, or via CLI with 'show api settings'
    Affected if API service is enabled and accessible from network locations where attackers could reach it
  3. Identify Super Admin accounts
    Navigate to Administration > Identities > Users in the Cisco ISE admin GUI to list all Super Admin accounts, or query via CLI with 'show user-details'
    Affected if Multiple Super Admin accounts exist beyond the minimum required, increasing the attack surface
  4. Review API access logs for anomalous file operations
    Check Cisco ISE operational logs under Monitor > Logging > Log Viewer, filtering for API requests that include file path parameters (look for GET/DELETE operations with path-like strings)
    Affected if Logs show API requests accessing unexpected file paths or unusual file read/delete operations

Environment is affected if Cisco ISE version is 3.0.0 through 3.3.0 and the REST API is accessible to Super Admin accounts who could exploit the parameter validation flaw.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.1.0 or later
Fixed in 3.1.0
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patch or updated version of Cisco ISE when available. Until then, limit API access to trusted Super Admin accounts only and monitor API request logs for anomalous file access patterns.

Recommended fix High confidence

Cisco ISE version 3.3.1 or later (or the next stable release such as 3.4.0)

  1. Verify current Cisco ISE version by navigating to Administration > System > Licensing > Software Version or using the CLI command 'show version'
  2. Ensure you have valid Super Admin credentials for authentication
  3. Review Cisco ISE upgrade documentation and release notes for version 3.3.1 or later
  4. Download the patched ISE software version from Cisco.com or your authorized vendor
  5. Create a full backup of the ISE configuration via Administration > System > Backup & Restore > Full Backup
  6. Schedule a maintenance window as upgrades may cause service interruption
  7. Follow Cisco ISE upgrade procedure: navigate to Administration > System > Upgrade > Software Upgrade, upload the new image, and initiate the upgrade
  8. After upgrade, verify the new version is running and all services are operational
Caveat Standard ISE upgrade risks apply: service downtime during upgrade window, potential for configuration issues requiring rollback, ensure compatibility with existing integrations and policies before upgrading

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
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,480
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,968.

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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-2024-20532 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