{"id":56349,"date":"2025-07-01T10:50:47","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T10:50:47","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-09-29T02:50:39","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T08:50:39","slug":"cve-2025-20281-critical-vulnerability-in-cisco-ise-and-ise-pic-apis-allows-remote-code-execution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20281-critical-vulnerability-in-cisco-ise-and-ise-pic-apis-allows-remote-code-execution\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2025-20281: Critical Vulnerability in Cisco ISE and ISE-PIC APIs Allows Remote Code Execution<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A severe vulnerability, designated as CVE-2025-20281, has been identified in the application programming interface (API) of Cisco&#8217;s Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE-PIC products. This vulnerability could potentially allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system with root privileges, leading to a significant system compromise or data leakage. Given the prominence of Cisco&#8217;s ISE and ISE-PIC products in the enterprise networking space, this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-22236-minion-event-bus-authorization-bypass-vulnerability-posing-serious-security-threats\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"63333\">vulnerability poses<\/a> a substantial threat to organizations globally.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2025-20281<br \/>\nSeverity: Critical (CVSS: 9.8\/10)<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Network<br \/>\nPrivileges Required: None<br \/>\nUser Interaction: None<br \/>\nImpact: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-5868-critical-vulnerability-in-rt-thread-leading-to-system-compromise-and-data-leakage\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"63872\">System compromise<\/a>, Potential data leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-1299179125\" class=\"ameeb-content-2 ameeb-entity-placement\"><div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #555; padding-left: 20px; margin: 48px 0; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 700px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 8px;\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Best-App-icon-Ameeba.png\" alt=\"Ameeba Chat Icon\" style=\"width: 40px; height: 40px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    A new way to communicate\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 12px;\">\r\n    Ameeba Chat is built on encrypted identity, not personal profiles.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 16px;\">\r\n    Message, call, share files, and coordinate with identities kept separate.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 20px;\">\r\n    <li>\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Ameeba Chat authenticates access<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Aliases and categories<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, and files<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Secure notes for sensitive information<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\r\n    Private communication, rethought.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div style=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\/download\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Download Ameeba Chat<\/a>\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Learn More<\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20282-unauthenticated-file-upload-and-execution-vulnerability-in-cisco-ise-and-ise-pic\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"64475\">Cisco ISE<\/a> | All versions prior to the patched version<br \/>\nCisco ISE-PIC | All <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-55010-arbitrary-php-object-instantiation-in-kanboard-prior-to-version-1-2-47\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"77964\">versions prior<\/a> to the patched version<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This vulnerability results from insufficient validation of user-supplied input in a specific <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20271-cisco-anyconnect-vpn-server-vulnerability-may-lead-to-dos-attacks\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"63225\">API<\/a> of the Cisco ISE and ISE-PIC. An attacker could exploit this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-24919-deserialization-of-untrusted-input-vulnerability-in-dell-controlvault3\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"63453\">vulnerability by crafting a special API request containing malicious input<\/a>. When this request is processed by the affected system, due to the insufficient input validation, the attacker&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-34511-sitecore-powershell-extensions-remote-code-execution-vulnerability\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"62829\">code is executed<\/a> with root privileges on the underlying operating system, leading to a potential system compromise or data leakage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-787743052\" class=\"ameeb-content ameeb-entity-placement\"><div class=\"poptin-embedded\" data-id=\"f6b387694f681\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>An attacker could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-4981-critical-file-extraction-vulnerability-in-mattermost-leading-to-potential-remote-code-execution\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"63058\">potentially exploit this vulnerability<\/a> by sending a crafted HTTP request similar to the following:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">POST \/api\/vulnerable_endpoint HTTP\/1.1\nHost: target.example.com\nContent-Type: application\/json\n{ &quot;malicious_payload&quot;: &quot;&lt;CODE THAT EXECUTES ARBITRARY COMMANDS ON THE SYSTEM&gt;&quot; }<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>In the above example, `<CODE THAT EXECUTES ARBITRARY COMMANDS ON THE SYSTEM>` represents the attacker&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-49132-critical-arbitrary-code-execution-vulnerability-in-pterodactyl-game-server-management-panel\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"63267\">arbitrary code<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mitigation Guidance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Organizations are advised to apply the vendor-provided patch as soon as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-54742-data-deserialization-vulnerability-in-wpevently-leading-to-possible-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"86483\">possible to remediate this vulnerability<\/a>. In the meantime, or in cases where immediate patching is not feasible, the use of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as a temporary mitigation, helping to detect and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-8059-critical-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-in-b-blocks-wordpress-plugin\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"76422\">block attempts to exploit this vulnerability<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview A severe vulnerability, designated as CVE-2025-20281, has been identified in the application programming interface (API) of Cisco&#8217;s Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE-PIC products. This vulnerability could potentially allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system with root privileges, leading to a significant system compromise or data leakage. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[96],"product":[],"attack_vector":[80],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-56349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-cisco","attack_vector-rce"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56349"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79269,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56349\/revisions\/79269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56349"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=56349"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=56349"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=56349"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=56349"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=56349"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=56349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}