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CVE-2023-20166· NVD / CVE Program· CNA cisco

Cisco Identity Services Engine Path Traversal Vulnerabilities

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an authenticated attacker to perform path traversal attacks on the underlying operating system to either elevate privileges to root or read arbitrary files. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker must have valid Administrator credentials on the affected device. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

MediumCVSS 6.7 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded
Published
May 17, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.2% · 11th percentile
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Action score

26

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
26 / 40 · 6.7 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.2%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
6.7
CNA · cisco
6.0
0.7 point gap

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

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Affected systems

VendorProduct
ciscoidentity services engine

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • cisco identity services engine3.2

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (cisco). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software

    • n/aaffected

Same product

cisco: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2025-20281Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution VulnerabilityKEV
    99Now
  • CVE-2025-20337Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution VulnerabilityKEV
    90Now
  • CVE-2026-76460Cisco Identity Services Engine Authentication Bypass VulnerabilityKEV
    74This week
  • CVE-2025-20282Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
    52Plan
  • CVE-2022-20964A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Identity Services Engine could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to inj
    44Plan
  • CVE-2026-20186Cisco Identity Services Engine Multiple Authenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
    41Plan

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • Administrator privileges are required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-24 · Path Traversal: '../filedir'

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records