← Back to KEV catalog

CVE-2025-20282

Exploitation: none CVSS 10.0 CRITICAL

CVSS base score: 10.0 (Critical) vendor CNA · v3.1

Score assigned by the vendor's own CVE Numbering Authority (CNA); CISA's Vulnrichment program adds a score only when the CNA omits one. Vulnrichment source record →

Vendor: Cisco   Product: Cisco Identity Services Engine Software

Description

A vulnerability in an internal API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to upload arbitrary files to an affected device and then execute those files on the underlying operating system as root. This vulnerability is due a lack of file validation checks that would prevent uploaded files from being placed in privileged directories on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by uploading a crafted file to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to store malicious files on the affected system and then execute arbitrary code or obtain root privileges on the system.

Research & News Coverage

No mentions found in monitored research blogs or news feeds.

Referenced in Advisories

DateAdvisoryIssuer
2025-07-18 2025-025: Critical Vulnerabilities in Cisco ISE CERT-EU

Lifecycle Timeline

Each milestone comes from a different source, so gaps between them are gaps in what those sources publish, not evidence that nothing happened. EPSS history for this CVE holds 123 points from 2025-06-28, tracked daily from 2026-09-09; earlier points are weekly, which dates a spike to within a week. Peak probability 38.7% on 2026-09-26.

Published Applicability

CVE List v5 (CNA container) 2 affected · 0 fixed · 0 not affected

Check whether a specific version is affected →

What each source publishes about which product versions carry this vulnerability, kept as written rather than merged. Absence here means no source has published applicability data, not that nothing is affected.

Detection & Exploitation

Scan
Exploit / Pen Test
Network IDS/IPS
none published
Host / SIEM
none published

Coverage across public collections only: Nuclei and OpenVAS NVT (scan); Snort and Suricata ET Open (network); Sigma and YARA (host/SIEM); Metasploit, Exploit-DB, public GitHub repositories and NVD exploit references (exploit). Absence here means nothing public was found, not that detection is impossible.
GitHub PoC repositories are collected automatically by PoC-in-GitHub (CC0) and filtered to repositories that are still online, contain code, and are starred or at least two weeks old. They are still not vetted: some are fakes and some are malware. Treat them as evidence that code was published, not as code to run.
NVD exploit references are links NVD's analysts tag as exploits; they confirm an exploit was referenced but carry no date. This product uses data from the NVD but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
OpenVAS coverage derives from the Greenbone Community Feed, made available under the Open Database License (ODbL) v1.0; its individual Vulnerability Tests are licensed GNU GPL v2.

First seenToolEvidenceEarliest reference
2025-07-01 GitHub PoC Unvetted — public repository skadevare/CiscoISE-CVE-2025-20282-POC

Metasploit is dated by the first commit of the module file, Exploit-DB by its publication date, and GitHub repositories by their creation date. GitHub PoC repositories are filtered (still online, contain code, starred or at least two weeks old) but not vetted: some are fakes and some are malware, so they show that code was published, not that it works or is safe to run. Evidence tiers are explained on the About page.

CISA Assessment (Vulnrichment / SSVC)

none
yes
total
—
10.0 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE-269 — Improper Privilege Management
2025-06-25

Federal Remediation Window (BOD 26-04)

No
yes
total control
If the asset isRemediate withinTable 1 row
Publicly exposed 3 days 5 of 16
Not publicly exposed 60 days 13 of 16

BOD 26-04 replaced the single KEV deadline of BOD 22-01 with four inputs: whether the asset is publicly exposed, KEV status, whether exploitation is automatable, and technical impact. Exposure belongs to each agency's asset, not to the CVE, so both outcomes are shown. Automatable and technical impact come from the CISA assessment above. Days are calendar days; for KEV entries the clock starts on the date it was added, and otherwise when the agency identifies the vulnerability on an asset. Agencies make the final exposure call asset by asset, and may set shorter timelines.

External References