Cisco Identity Services Engine
CVE-2023-20193
A vulnerability in the Embedded Service Router (ESR) of Cisco ISE could allow an authenticated, local attacker to read, write, or delete arbitrary files on the underlying operating system and escalate their privileges to root. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must have valid Administrator-level privileges on the affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper privilege management in the ESR console. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate their privileges to root and read, write, or delete arbitrary files from the underlying operating system of the affected device. Note: The ESR is not enabled by default and must be licensed. To verify the status of the ESR in the Admin GUI, choose Administration > Settings > Protocols > IPSec.
What this means for your business
- It affects Cisco Identity Services Engine. It matters if your company, or a supplier that handles your data, runs it.
- An attacker can use it only with access to the machine itself, with an administrator login, and without anyone at your company clicking anything.
- FIRST's prediction model gives it a 0.2% chance of attack attempts being seen in the next 30 days, ranking above 8% of all known flaws.
What to do
- 1Check whether your company or your suppliers run Cisco Identity Services Engine, and which version. The affected versions are listed further down this page.
- 2If you do, apply the vendor's fix. A patch or vendor advisory has been published.
Not sure if your company is exposed?
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Scoring
- CVSS
- 6.0 (v3.1)
- Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N- Weakness
- CWE-78
- Assigned by
- psirt@cisco.com
Dates
- Published
- 2023-09-07
- Last modified
- 2026-09-21
- Sources
- NVD
Affected products
- Cisco Identity Services Engine- 2.7, 3.0.0 - 3.3.0
As listed in the NVD configuration data. Not a statement about your estate.