CVE-2026-20194

Cisco Identity Services Engine Hardening Release - Incorrect Resource Transfer Vulnerabilities

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

CVSS 3.19.1Critical EPSS percentile36th0.4% 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, including administrator-managed appliances.
Restrict management access to trusted administrator networks and review privileged accounts while a fix is unavailable.
Check Cisco's security advisory for CVE-2026-20194 regularly; Cisco has not published a fixed version or patch information yet.
Ask your IT provider to review administrator activity and unexpected configuration changes on these systems.

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-2026-20194 are related to incorrect resource transfer between spheres that are grouped under the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) Pillar CWE-669.

In plain language

Written by AI from the record

Businesses using Cisco Identity Services Engine or its Passive Identity Connector should treat this critical flaw as urgent because public exploit code is available and no fix information has been published.

CVE-2026-20194 is a CVSS 9.1 incorrect resource-transfer vulnerability (CWE-669) in Cisco Identity Services Engine and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector, with network access and high-privilege credentials required.

If you're affected

Full system compromise
Identity-service disruption
Sensitive data exposure
Unauthorized configuration changes

What is it

This is a flaw in software that helps control who can connect to your company network. Think of it as a secure office where someone with the right staff key may be able to move resources across locked areas incorrectly, potentially gaining control of systems or sensitive information.

Who is affected

This matters to you if you use Cisco Identity Services Engine, including its Passive Identity Connector function, to manage network identity or access. The known attack conditions require an attacker to already hold high-level credentials and be able to reach the service over the network.

How urgent is it

Public exploit code is available, making this a red-priority issue even though CISA has not listed it as actively exploited. Take access-restriction and privileged-account review steps now, then apply Cisco's remediation as soon as it is published.

What to do — in detail

Confirm whether Cisco Identity Services Engine or Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector is deployed, identify its installed release, and determine which administrator accounts can reach it over the network. No affected-version range, fixed release, or patch guidance is available in the findings, so there is no supported target version or upgrade path to provide yet.

Until Cisco publishes remediation, limit management and network access to trusted administrator systems, review and reduce high-privilege accounts where possible, and watch for unexpected administrative logins or configuration changes. CISA has not assigned a KEV remediation due date because this CVE is not in the KEV catalog. Recheck Cisco's advisory for fixed versions, release-specific upgrade guidance, and any temporary mitigations.

Technical context

CVSS v3.1 is 9.1 Critical (AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). The reported weakness is CWE-669, incorrect resource transfer between spheres. Network reachability is required, but exploitation also requires high privileges; no user interaction is required. Public exploit code is available. CISA KEV does not list this CVE. EPSS is 0.4% (38th percentile) with a flat trend; this is predictive rather than confirmation of in-the-wild exploitation.

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.

EPSS36th

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

0.4% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the 36th 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 updated
2026-09-17Record updated
2026-09-16Publishedweakness classified, record updated

Affected products

Ciscocommercial · USaka cisco systems inc., cisco systems
- 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:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Scored 9.1 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 HighRequires admin or elevated privileges
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