Identity Services EngineApplication · Cisco
CVE-2025-20304
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 · uneditedMultiple vulnerabilities in the web-based management interface of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct a reflected XSS attack against a user of the interface. These vulnerabilities are due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input by the web-based management interface of an affected system. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by injecting malicious code into specific pages of the interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary script code in the context of the affected interface or access sensitive, browser-based information. To exploit these vulnerabilities, the attacker must have at least a low-privileged account on the affected device.
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 confidenceMultiple reflected XSS vulnerabilities in Cisco ISE and ISE-PIC web-based management interface due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker with low-privileged access can inject malicious script into specific interface pages to execute arbitrary code in the user's browser context or access sensitive browser-based information.
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
<= 3.1.0= 3.2.0= 3.3.0= 3.4.0CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if Cisco ISE is installedRun 'show version' in the ISE CLI or check the administration dashboard for the software version. Alternatively, check the system inventory or About page in the web management interface.Affected if Cisco ISE or ISE-PIC software is present on the system
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Determine the installed ISE versionIn the web UI, navigate to Administration > System > Settings > About or use the CLI command 'show version' to retrieve the exact version number.Affected if The version displayed is 3.1.0 or lower, or exactly 3.2.0, 3.3.0, or 3.4.0
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Confirm the web-based management interface is accessibleAttempt to access the ISE admin portal URL (typically https://<ise-hostname>/admin/) in a browser. Verify the interface loads and accepts authentication.Affected if The management interface is reachable and responds to HTTP/HTTPS requests
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Check for low-privileged user accountsIn the ISE web UI, navigate to Administration > Identity Management > Identities > Users. Review user accounts and their assigned privilege levels. Low-privilege accounts typically have Operator, Helpdesk, or Read-Only roles.Affected if There are user accounts with low-privilege roles (Operator, Helpdesk, or Read-Only) who can access the management interface
If Cisco ISE or ISE-PIC is installed with version 3.4.0 or lower, and the web-based management interface is accessible with low-privileged user accounts, the environment is potentially affected by this reflected XSS vulnerability.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedApply the Cisco-provided patch for CVE-2025-20304 per Cisco's advisory. If patch unavailable, implement strict input validation and output encoding on all user-facing fields in the management interface as a compensating control.
Cisco ISE 3.4.1 or later (or latest available 3.x/4.x release)
- 1. Back up the current Cisco ISE configuration and verify backup integrity.
- 2. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade process.
- 3. Download the fixed version of Cisco ISE (3.4.1 or later, or the latest available 3.x/4.x release) from the Cisco Software Download page.
- 4. Follow the Cisco ISE upgrade guide to install the fixed version, ensuring proper order of nodes in a distributed deployment.
- 5. After upgrade, verify that the ISE services are running correctly.
- 6. Test the web-based management interface to confirm normal operation.
- 7. Verify that the XSS vulnerability is remediated by attempting to validate that malicious scripts are no longer executed in the context of the interface (or confirm via Cisco advisory that the specific CVE is addressed in the new version).
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
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,888.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-20304 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-20304 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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