CVE-2025-20282: 
Cisco ISE vulnerability analysis and mitigation

A critical vulnerability (CVE-2025-20282) was discovered in an internal API of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC). The vulnerability, disclosed on June 25, 2025, allows an unauthenticated, remote attacker to upload arbitrary files to an affected device and execute those files on the underlying operating system as root. This vulnerability specifically affects Cisco ISE and ISE-PIC Release 3.4 (Cisco Advisory, NVD).

The vulnerability stems from a lack of file validation checks that would prevent uploaded files from being placed in privileged directories on an affected system. The flaw carries a Critical CVSS v3.1 base score of 10.0 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating maximum severity. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management) (Cisco Advisory).

A successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows attackers to store malicious files on the affected system and then execute arbitrary code or obtain root privileges on the system. The attacker does not require any authentication or valid credentials to exploit this vulnerability, making it particularly dangerous (Arctic Wolf, Cisco Advisory).

Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability in ISE 3.4 Patch 2 (ise-apply-CSCwo994493.4.0.608patch1-SPA.tar.gz). There are no workarounds available that address this vulnerability, making it critical for affected organizations to apply the provided patches (Cisco Advisory).

The vulnerability was discovered and reported by Kentaro Kawane of GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae, working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative. Security researchers emphasize the critical nature of this vulnerability due to its maximum CVSS score and the potential for unauthenticated remote code execution (Hacker News).