CVE-2026-20192

Cisco Identity Services Engine Hardening Release - Access Control Vulnerabilities

Public exploit available. Not confirmed exploited in the wild yet. No fix published yet.

CVSS 3.110.0Critical EPSS percentile37th0.5% chance in 30 days CISA KEVNot listedNo confirmed exploitation
Public exploit: 0 sources FixNone yetNo fix or workaround published

Published 2026-09-16Updated 2026-09-18Sources: CVE.org, NVD

NVD CVE.org

What to do

No fixed build or workaround is published yet. Limit exposure and watch for a patch.

Steps

Written by AI from the record

Check whether your organization runs Cisco Identity Services Engine or Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector.
Ask Cisco or your support provider whether a hardening release addressing CVE-2026-20192 is available; no fixed version has been published in the supplied findings.
Until guidance is available, restrict network access to these systems to trusted administrators and required internal services.
Review administrator accounts and investigate unexpected configuration, access-policy, or identity-service changes.

May need vendor or contractor work

Is your organisation exposed?Request an assessment to establish which checks fit your systems.

What it is

From the CVE record

As part of Cisco's ongoing commitment to proactive security and product quality, the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC) engineering teams have conducted a comprehensive internal security review. This review resulted in a software hardening release that addresses multiple internally discovered vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities tracked by CVE-2026-20192 are related to improper access control issues that are grouped under the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) Pillar CWE-284.

In plain language

Written by AI from the record

Cisco Identity Services Engine has a critical security weakness with a public exploit, so small businesses using it should act now.

CVE-2026-20192 is a CVSS 10.0 improper-access-control vulnerability affecting Cisco Identity Services Engine and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector, with public exploit code available.

If you're affected

Identity system takeover
Unauthorized network access
Customer data exposure
Business service disruption
Ransomware risk

What is it

This is a flaw in a system that helps decide who can access your company’s network and services. It is like a faulty security desk that may let the wrong person change who is allowed through, putting connected business systems at risk.

Who is affected

This matters to you if you run Cisco Identity Services Engine to manage network access or identity-related policies. It also matters if your deployment includes its Passive Identity Connector component.

How urgent is it

Public exploit code is available, meaning attackers have a practical starting point for targeting this weakness. Treat this as an urgent, red-level issue: identify affected systems now and get Cisco-specific mitigation guidance while a confirmed fixed release is unavailable.

What to do — in detail

Confirm exposure by inventorying Cisco Identity Services Engine deployments and determining whether Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector is installed. The supplied findings do not identify affected version ranges or fixed versions, so obtain Cisco’s advisory or support guidance before selecting an upgrade target.

No safe upgrade path or breaking-change information is available in the findings. If patching is delayed, limit network connectivity to the affected systems to only required internal services and designated administrator networks, and review privileged accounts and recent policy or configuration changes. There is no CISA KEV due date because this CVE is not listed in CISA KEV. Monitor Cisco advisories for a hardening release, then monitor identity-policy, administrator, and service-configuration activity for unexpected changes.

Technical context

Severity is Critical: CVSS 3.1 score 10.0 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). The reported weakness is CWE-284, improper access control. Public exploit code is available, indicating weaponization, but the supplied findings do not confirm exploitation in the wild; CISA KEV does not list this CVE. EPSS is 0.4% at the 37th percentile with a flat trend. Patch and fixed-version information are not available in the supplied findings.

This is a general assessment based on public vulnerability data. It does not account for your specific infrastructure — when in doubt, consult a security specialist.

Exploitation

Where each signal puts this CVE on the scale from published to confirmed exploited.

EPSS37th

Public exploit

CISA KEV

Not in the catalog. CISA has not confirmed exploitation.

Public exploits

0 sources with a proof of concept or module.

Exploit links, PoCs and Metasploit modules after sign-in

EPSS

0.5% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the 37th percentile of scored CVEs.

Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST.org. A probability, not a confirmation.

Lifecycle

5 events over 2 days, from the signal feeds we watch.

2026-09-18Record updatedrecord updated
2026-09-16Publishedweakness classified, record updated

Affected products

Ciscocommercial · USaka cisco systems, cisco systems inc.
- Cisco Identity Services Engine SoftwareNetworking Infrastructure
- Cisco ISE Passive Identity ConnectorNetworking Infrastructure

Technical detail

CVSS 3.1 vector

Open in the CVSS calculator

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Scored 10.0 by NVD.

How it is reached

Attack Vector NetworkExploitable remotely over the network without any special conditions
Attack Complexity LowNo special conditions — the attack can be reliably reproduced
Privileges Required NoneNo authentication required — anyone can exploit this
User Interaction NoneNo user interaction needed — fully automated exploitation

Scope

Scope ChangedThe exploit can affect other components (e.g. sandbox escape, host compromise from VM)

Impact if exploited

Confidentiality HighTotal information disclosure — all data in the component is compromised
Integrity HighTotal loss of integrity — attacker can modify any data in the component
Availability HighTotal denial of service — the component is completely unavailable