Overview
We’re discussing a significant vulnerability, CVE-2025-20286, that affects cloud deployments of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) on three major cloud platforms: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). This vulnerability exposes sensitive data, allows the execution of limited administrative commands, and can enable changes to system configurations, which could disrupt services within the impacted systems. Given the widespread use of these cloud platforms and Cisco ISE, this vulnerability presents a significant risk to enterprises.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-20286
Severity: Critical (CVSS score 9.9)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) on AWS | All versions prior to patch
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) on Azure | All versions prior to patch
Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) on OCI | All versions prior to patch
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability arises due to the improper generation of credentials during the deployment of Cisco ISE on cloud platforms. This results in different Cisco ISE deployments sharing the same credentials, provided the software release and cloud platform are identical. An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by extracting the user credentials from one Cisco ISE instance deployed in the cloud and using them to access another instance in a different cloud environment via unsecured ports.
Conceptual Example Code
Here’s a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. This code block is a representation of a potential method of credential extraction:
# Step 1: Connect to the unsecured port
nc vulnerable-cisco-ise-instance.com 22
# Step 2: Fetch credentials
echo "extract credentials" | nc vulnerable-cisco-ise-instance.com 22
# Step 3: Use extracted credentials to access another instance
ssh -l extractedUser -p extractedPassword another-cisco-ise-instance.comPlease note that this example is purely conceptual and does not represent an actual exploit. Its purpose is to illustrate the potential seriousness of this vulnerability.
Mitigation and Remedies
The recommended action to mitigate this vulnerability is to apply the patch provided by the vendor. If the patch cannot be applied immediately, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as a temporary mitigation strategy. These systems should be configured to monitor and block unusual network traffic and multiple connection attempts from the same IP address.