---
id: CVE-2026-20180
title: >-
  A vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an
  authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying
  operating system of an affected device
summary: >-
  A vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) 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 mus…
severity: critical
cvss: 9.9
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-22
vendor: cisco
product: identity_services_engine
affected:
  - identity_services_engine < 3.2.0
  - identity_services_engine = 3.2.0
  - identity_services_engine = 3.3.0
  - identity_services_engine = 3.4.0
patched:
  - identity_services_engine 3.2.0
published: '2026-04-15'
updated: '2026-07-08'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20180'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-rce-4fverepv
    label: psirt@cisco.com
tags:
  - nvd
  - exploit-available
epss: 0.06024
epssPercentile: 0.93021
ingestedAt: '2026-07-08T14:51:15.643Z'
exploits:
  github: 1
  githubRepos:
    - 'https://github.com/kaleth4/CVE-2026-20180'
  checkedAt: '2026-09-23T07:13:53.515Z'
exploitAvailable: true
---

## Overview

A vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) 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 at least Read Only Admin credentials.

This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain user-level access to the underlying operating system and then elevate privileges to&nbsp;root. In single-node ISE deployments, successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could cause the affected ISE node to become unavailable, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. In that condition, endpoints that have not already authenticated would be unable to access the network until the node is restored.

## Affected

- `identity_services_engine < 3.2.0`
- `identity_services_engine = 3.2.0`
- `identity_services_engine = 3.3.0`
- `identity_services_engine = 3.4.0`

## Remediation

Upgrade past the affected range:

- `identity_services_engine 3.2.0`