Critical Command Execution Vulnerability Patched in Cisco ISE

Summary

Cisco has released security updates for a critical command execution vulnerability (CVE-2026-20181) in its Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC). The flaw, with a CVSS score of 9.1, allows authenticated attackers to gain OS access and elevate privileges to root by sending a crafted HTTP request. Cisco also addressed a high-severity information disclosure defect (CVE-2026-20190).

Full text

Cisco has released fixes for a critical-severity command execution vulnerability in Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC). Tracked as CVE-2026-20181 (CVSS score of 9.1), the issue exists because user-supplied input is improperly validated, allowing an attacker to send a crafted HTTP request and obtain user-level access to the underlying operating system. The attacker could then elevate their privileges to root. “A vulnerability in Cisco ISE and ISE-PIC could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials,” Cisco explains. In single-node deployments, an attacker could exploit the flaw to cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition, preventing endpoints that have not already authenticated from accessing the network until the node is restored. The bug was addressed with the release of ISE and ISE-PIC versions 3.3 Patch 11 and 3.4 Patch 6. A hotfix for ISE version 3.5 is also available and will be included in version 3.5 Patch 4 in August. The updates also address a high-severity information disclosure defect, tracked as CVE-2026-20190, which could allow unauthenticated attackers to access sensitive data, such as hashed credentials.Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading. On Wednesday, Cisco also released fixes for medium-severity vulnerabilities in the Webex App, the Umbrella Virtual Appliance, and the Crosswork Network Controller that could lead to malicious redirects, privilege escalation, and arbitrary command execution. The company says it is not aware of any of these security flaws being exploited in the wild. Additional information can be found on Cisco’s security advisories page. 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Indicators of Compromise

• cve — CVE-2026-20181
• cve — CVE-2026-20190

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