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Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco

CVE-2024-20537

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
71/100
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 web-based management interface of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to bypass the authorization mechanisms for specific administrative functions. This vulnerability is due to a lack of server-side validation of Administrator permissions. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted HTTP request to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to conduct administrative functions beyond their intended access level. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need Read-Only Administrator credentials.

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 an authorization bypass vulnerability in Cisco ISE's web-based management interface where server-side validation of Administrator permissions is missing. An authenticated attacker with Read-Only Administrator credentials can submit crafted HTTP requests to perform administrative functions beyond their authorized access level, achieving vertical privilege escalation.

MitigationApply Cisco's official patch when available. As an interim control, restrict network access to the ISE web management interface to trusted admin networks only to reduce attack surface.

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= 3.2.0= 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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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. Confirm Cisco ISE is present
    Identify if Cisco Identity Services Engine is installed by checking for ISE services, the ISE admin web portal, or reviewing installed software on the system
    Affected if Cisco ISE is found in the environment
  2. Check the installed version
    Log into the ISE web interface and navigate to Administration > System > Server Settings, or use the CLI command 'show version' to determine the exact version number
    Affected if The version is exactly 3.0.0, 3.1.0, 3.2.0, or 3.3.0
  3. Verify web management interface is enabled
    Confirm the ISE admin web interface is accessible by checking that the service is running and reachable on the configured ports (typically 443 or 8443)
    Affected if The ISE web management interface is active and running
  4. Identify Read-Only Administrator accounts
    In the ISE web interface, go to Administration > Identity Management > Identities > Users to review user accounts, or use the CLI to list administrators and their assigned privilege levels
    Affected if Read-Only Administrator accounts exist in the system

The environment is affected if Cisco ISE version 3.0.0, 3.1.0, 3.2.0, or 3.3.0 is running with the web management interface accessible and Read-Only Administrator accounts are configured, allowing authenticated attackers to perform unauthorized administrative actions.

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 Cisco's official patch when available. As an interim control, restrict network access to the ISE web management interface to trusted admin networks only to reduce attack surface.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Cisco ISE 3.3.1 or later (or 3.4.0 if released)

  1. 1. Log in to the Cisco ISE admin web interface
  2. 2. Navigate to Administration > System > Settings > Server Certificate to backup current configuration
  3. 3. Download and review the Cisco ISE 3.3.1 or later release notes and security advisory for this CVE
  4. 4. Schedule a maintenance window during low-traffic period
  5. 5. Apply the software update following Cisco ISE upgrade procedures: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/security/ise/3-3/upgrade_guide/b_ISE_Upgrade_33.html
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the patch is applied by checking the ISE version under Administration > System > Version
  7. 7. Confirm Read-Only Administrator accounts can no longer perform elevated administrative actions
Caveat Standard Cisco ISE minor version upgrades typically preserve configuration but thorough backup is essential; test in staging environment before production deployment

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
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $2,970
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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-2024-20537 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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