Cisco has recently addressed a critical security vulnerability in its Identity Services Engine (ISE) that could allow unauthenticated attackers to perform unauthorized actions on affected systems. This flaw, identified as CVE-2025-20286, has been assigned a CVSS score of 9.9 out of 10, indicating its severity. The vulnerability is classified as a static credential issue.
Understanding the Vulnerability
The core of this vulnerability lies in the improper generation of credentials during the deployment of Cisco ISE on cloud platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). This misconfiguration results in multiple deployments sharing identical credentials, provided they are on the same software release and cloud platform. For instance, all instances of Cisco ISE release 3.1 on AWS would possess the same static credentials. However, these credentials are not interchangeable across different releases or platforms. For example, credentials for release 3.1 on AWS would not be valid for release 3.2 on the same platform, nor would release 3.2 on AWS share credentials with release 3.2 on Azure.
Potential Risks and Exploitation
If exploited, this vulnerability could enable an attacker to extract user credentials from one Cisco ISE cloud deployment and use them to access other deployments across different cloud environments through unsecured ports. This unauthorized access could lead to:
– Exposure of sensitive data
– Execution of limited administrative operations
– Modification of system configurations
– Disruption of services
It’s important to note that this vulnerability specifically affects deployments where the Primary Administration node is hosted in the cloud. On-premises Primary Administration nodes are not impacted.
Affected Versions
The vulnerability impacts the following versions of Cisco ISE:
– AWS: Versions 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4
– Azure: Versions 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4
– OCI: Versions 3.2, 3.3, and 3.4
Mitigation Measures
Currently, there are no direct workarounds to fully address CVE-2025-20286. However, Cisco recommends the following actions to mitigate potential risks:
1. Restrict Traffic: Limit network traffic to authorized administrators to reduce exposure.
2. Reset User Passwords: Execute the command `application reset-config ise` to reset user passwords to new values. Be aware that running this command will revert Cisco ISE to its factory configuration, which may require reconfiguration of the system.
Conclusion
Given the critical nature of this vulnerability, organizations utilizing Cisco ISE in cloud environments should promptly implement the recommended mitigation strategies. Ensuring that only authorized personnel have access and resetting user credentials can significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access and potential system compromise. Staying vigilant and proactive in applying security measures is essential to maintaining the integrity and security of cloud-based deployments.
