Cisco Security Advisory
Cisco Identity Services Engine Hardening Release: September 2026
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CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:X/RL:X/RC:X
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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 software hardening releases that address multiple internally discovered vulnerabilities.
These vulnerabilities were found during internal testing. One of them is known to be actively exploited. For more information, see Cisco Identity Services Engine Authentication Bypass Vulnerability. To assist customers in patching and streamline the disclosure process, Cisco has grouped these issues by their underlying vulnerability class - Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) - and assigned a single Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures identifier (CVE ID) to each CWE grouping.
Cisco has released software updates that address these vulnerabilities. There are no workarounds that address these vulnerabilities.
This advisory is available at the following link:
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-hardening-ise-XU5EwX5TThis advisory is part of a group of advisories. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Advance Notification for Publication of September 16, 2026, Security Advisories.
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Vulnerable Products
These vulnerabilities affect Cisco ISE and ISE-PIC, regardless of device configuration.
For information about which Cisco software releases are vulnerable, see the Fixed Software section of this advisory.
Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable
Only products listed in the Vulnerable Products section of this advisory are known to be affected by this vulnerability.
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The following table outlines the vulnerability classes that are addressed in this hardening release. The CVSS score that is assigned to each CVE ID represents the maximum potential severity of the single most impactful underlying vulnerability within that specific CWE category.
CVE ID Highest CVSS Score Vulnerability Class (Highest-Level CWE) Description CVE-2026-20130 10.0 CWE-74 Improper neutralization of special elements in output used by a downstream component (covers command injection, cross-site scripting, xml injection, code injection, and resource injection) CVE-2026-20192 10.0 CWE-284 Improper access control1 (covers authorization, authentication, privileges, and bypasses) CVE-2026-20194 9.1 CWE-669 Incorrect resource transfer between spheres (covers exposure of sensitive information during transit, improper removal of sensitive information before storage, and unrestricted file upload) CVE-2026-20234 9.9 CWE-522 Insufficiently protected credentials (covers information disclosure, storing passwords in recoverable format, and weak encoding for passwords) CVE-2026-20237 9.9 CWE-20 Improper input validation (covers input validation, path traversal, and external path control) CVE-2026-20287 6.5 CWE-269 Improper privilege management (covers incorrect privilege assignment, privilege chaining, and incorrect use of privilege APIs) 1. One vulnerability that belongs to this vulnerability class is known to be actively exploited. For more information, see Cisco Identity Services Engine Authentication Bypass Vulnerability.
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There are no workarounds that address these vulnerabilities.
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To remediate these vulnerabilities and avoid future exposure as described in this advisory, Cisco strongly recommends that customers upgrade to the fixed software indicated in this advisory.
Fixed Releases
In the following table, the left column lists Cisco software releases. The right column indicates whether a release is affected by the vulnerability that is described in this advisory and the first release that includes the fix for this vulnerability. Customers are advised to upgrade to an appropriate fixed software release as indicated in this section.
Cisco ISE or ISE-PIC Release First Fixed Release 3.01 and earlier Migrate to fixed release. 3.12 3.1 Patch 12 3.22 3.2 Patch 11 3.3 3.3 Patch 12 3.4 3.4 Patch 7 3.53 3.5 Patch 4 1. Cisco ISE Software Release 3.0 has reached End of Software Maintenance. Customers are advised to migrate to a supported release that includes available hardening fixes.
2. Cisco ISE Software Releases 3.1 and 3.2 are in their Software Maintenance phase. Only Critical SIR vulnerability fixes are included in these releases. Customers are advised to migrate to a supported release that includes all of the available hardening fixes.
3. Cisco ISE-PIC has reached the end-of-sale date. Release 3.4 is the last supported release.For instructions on upgrading a device, see the Upgrade Guides on the Cisco Identity Service Engine support page.
The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) validates only the affected and fixed release information that is documented in this advisory.
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Except as otherwise noted previously, the Cisco PSIRT is not aware of any public announcements or malicious use of the vulnerabilities that are described in this advisory.
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These vulnerabilities were found during internal security testing using existing testing processes as well as frontier AI models.
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To learn about Cisco security vulnerability disclosure policies and publications, see the Security Vulnerability Policy. This document also contains instructions for obtaining fixed software and receiving security vulnerability information from Cisco.
For additional information on Cisco's vulnerability management, disclosure cadence, and software patching strategy, see Cisco's Transition to a Risk-Based Vulnerability Disclosure Model.
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Show LessVersion Description Section Status Date 1.0 Initial public release. - Final 2026-SEP-16
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SOFTWARE DOWNLOADS AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT
The Cisco Support and Downloads page on Cisco.com provides information about licensing and downloads. This page can also display customer device support coverage for customers who use the My Devices tool. Please note that customers may download only software that was procured from Cisco directly or through a Cisco authorized reseller or partner and for which the license is still valid.
Customers who purchase directly from Cisco but do not hold a Cisco service contract and customers who make purchases through third-party vendors but are unsuccessful in obtaining fixed software through their point of sale should obtain upgrades by contacting the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC). Customers should have the product serial number available and be prepared to provide the URL of this advisory as evidence of entitlement to a free upgrade.
When considering software upgrades, customers are advised to regularly consult the advisories for the relevant Cisco products to determine exposure and a complete upgrade solution. In all cases, customers should ensure that the devices to be upgraded contain sufficient memory and confirm that current hardware and software configurations will continue to be supported properly by the new release. If the information is not clear, customers are advised to contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) or their contracted maintenance providers.
LEGAL DISCLAIMER DETAILS
CISCO DOES NOT MAKE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED GUARANTEES OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, CISCO DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THIS INFORMATION. THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS. YOUR USE OF THE INFORMATION ON THE DOCUMENT OR MATERIALS LINKED FROM THE DOCUMENT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. CISCO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE OR UPDATE THIS DOCUMENT AT ANY TIME.
Copies or summaries of the information contained in this Security Advisory may lack important information or contain factual errors. Customers are advised to visit the Cisco Security Advisories page for the most recent version of this Security Advisory. The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) assesses only the affected and fixed release information that is documented in this advisory. See the Cisco Security Vulnerability Policy for more information.