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Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco

CVE-2025-20125

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.1 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
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 an API of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with valid read-only credentials to obtain sensitive information, change node configurations, and restart the node. This vulnerability is due to a lack of authorization in a specific API and improper validation of user-supplied data. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to a specific API on the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to attacker to obtain information, modify system configuration, and reload the device. Note: To successfully exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid read-only administrative credentials. In a single-node deployment, new devices will not be able to authenticate during the reload time.

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 a specific API endpoint of Cisco ISE where the system fails to properly enforce read-only permission boundaries. An attacker with valid read-only credentials can send crafted HTTP requests to bypass authorization checks and perform privileged operations including sensitive information disclosure, configuration modification, and node restart. The vulnerability stems from both missing authorization enforcement and inadequate validation of user-supplied data in the affected API.

MitigationApply the Cisco ISE patch when available. Until then, restrict network access to the API endpoint, monitor for unusual API activity, and limit administrative credential exposure. In single-node deployments, plan maintenance windows carefully due to reload impact.

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:< 3.1= 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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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. Identify Cisco ISE version
    Run 'show version' in the Cisco ISE CLI or check the version in the Administration > System > Settings > Server Certificate page in the admin UI
    Affected if The installed version is < 3.1, 3.1.0, 3.2.0, or 3.3.0 (these are the vulnerable versions)
  2. Confirm API endpoint exposure
    Identify if the Cisco ISE API is network-accessible from untrusted networks. Check firewall rules and access lists allowing inbound access to port 443 (HTTPS) on the ISE management interface
    Affected if The ISE admin API port is accessible from networks outside the trusted administrative zone
  3. Review admin audit logs for privilege escalation
    In Cisco ISE, go to Operations > RADIUS > Live Logs or use the API to query admin audit logs. Look for operations performed by users with the 'Read-Only Admin' role that exceed read-only permissions
    Affected if Audit logs show read-only admin accounts performing configuration changes, node operations, or accessing sensitive data they should not have access to
  4. Check for unauthorized configuration modifications
    In the Cisco ISE admin UI, navigate to Administration > Sessions > Activity. Filter for configuration-related operations and verify the administrator role associated with each action
    Affected if Configuration changes (network device modifications, policy updates, trustsec changes) were performed by accounts assigned only read-only access
  5. Verify node operation logs for unauthorized restarts
    Check Cisco ISE system logs and the Operations > Diagnostics > System Diagnostic Logs for node restart or reload commands. Correlate with admin session logs to identify the initiating account
    Affected if Node restart or reload operations were initiated by accounts with only read-only privileges

You are affected if you run Cisco ISE version 3.1.0, 3.2.0, or 3.3.0 (or any version below 3.1) and your read-only admin accounts have performed privileged operations that they should not be able to do.

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 or later
Fixed in 3.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the Cisco ISE patch when available. Until then, restrict network access to the API endpoint, monitor for unusual API activity, and limit administrative credential exposure. In single-node deployments, plan maintenance windows carefully due to reload impact.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Cisco ISE version 3.4.0 or later (e.g., 3.4.0, 3.5.0)

  1. 1. Back up the current Cisco ISE configuration before starting the upgrade process.
  2. 2. Download the fixed Cisco ISE version from the Cisco Software Download page (requires valid Cisco service contract).
  3. 3. Verify the upgrade path is supported for your deployment topology (standalone, distributed, or standalone-to-distributed).
  4. 4. Schedule a maintenance window as the node reload will cause service interruption.
  5. 5. Upload the ISO image to the Cisco ISE primary node.
  6. 6. Initiate the upgrade through the ISE administration GUI or CLI using the 'upgrade' command.
  7. 7. After the primary node upgrades and services restart, verify all services are operational.
  8. 8. For distributed deployments, proceed with upgrading secondary nodes one at a time, ensuring each node is fully operational before proceeding to the next.
Caveat Upgrade requires maintenance window as nodes will reload; in single-node deployments, services will be unavailable during reload; ensure backup 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
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,280
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,648.

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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-2025-20125 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data