CVE-2026-20234

Cisco Identity Services Engine Hardening Release - Insuffiencently Protected Credential Vulnerabilities

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

CVSS 3.19.9Critical EPSS percentile28th0.4% chance in 30 days CISA KEVNot listedNo confirmed exploitation
Public exploit: 0 sources FixNone yetNo fix or workaround published

Published 2026-09-16Updated 2026-09-17Sources: 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

Confirm whether your organization runs Cisco Identity Services Engine software or Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector, including appliances managed by a provider.
Ask Cisco or your IT provider whether your installed release is affected by CVE-2026-20234 and whether any hardening release is available.
No fixed version has been provided in the available findings; obtain Cisco’s supported remediation guidance before making changes.
Until remediation is available, restrict administrative access to trusted staff and review privileged account activity for unexpected 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-2026-20234 are related to insufficiently protected credentials issues that are grouped under the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) Pillar CWE-522.

In plain language

Written by AI from the record

A critical credential-protection flaw affects Cisco Identity Services Engine software and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector; businesses using either should act now because public attack code is available.

CWE-522 insufficiently protected credentials vulnerabilities in Cisco Identity Services Engine software and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector can enable a logged-in attacker to compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability across security scopes.

If you're affected

Network access control takeover
Credential exposure
Policy changes
Service disruption
Ransomware risk

What is it

This issue means important system credentials may not be protected well enough. Think of it like leaving a master key in a poorly secured staff area: someone who gets access may be able to unlock far more than they should, including systems that control network access.

Who is affected

This matters to you if you use or run Cisco Identity Services Engine software or Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector to manage who and what can access your network. The known attack path requires an attacker to already have a login.

How urgent is it

Public exploit code is available, making this a red-priority issue for affected organizations. Treat any unnecessary or overly broad administrative access as urgent until Cisco provides supported remediation guidance.

What to do — in detail

Confirm deployment and exposure by inventorying Cisco Identity Services Engine software and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector instances, their software releases, administrative interfaces, and accounts with privileged access. The available findings do not identify affected version ranges, fixed versions, or a supported upgrade path; obtain Cisco’s advisory or support guidance before upgrading.

If patching is delayed, reduce the number of privileged accounts, restrict management interfaces to dedicated administrator networks, rotate credentials where exposure is suspected, and review authentication, configuration-change, and administrator activity logs for unexpected access or policy changes. There is no CISA KEV due date because this CVE is not listed in KEV. Monitor Cisco advisories for fixed releases and monitor for new public exploit activity.

Technical context

CVSS v3.1 is 9.9 Critical (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H). The weakness is CWE-522, insufficiently protected credentials. Public exploit code is available, but the findings do not confirm active in-the-wild exploitation. CISA KEV does not list this CVE. EPSS predicts 0.4% likelihood (31st percentile) with a flat trend; this is predictive scoring, not evidence of exploitation. Patch availability and fixed versions are not provided in the 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.

EPSS28th

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 28th percentile of scored CVEs.

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

Lifecycle

6 events over 1 day, from the signal feeds we watch.

2026-09-17Record updatedrecord updated
2026-09-16Publishedweakness classified, att&ck mapped, 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:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Scored 9.9 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 LowRequires basic user-level 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