CVE-2025-20281

CRITICALNVD 10.010.0—
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 10.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2025-07-28), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 10.0 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Exploited in the wild
10.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictMitigate nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 98%CVSS: 10.0Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · epss top5pct · epss high · public exploitExposed services: Not assessed

No fix is confirmed yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for the fix.

A vulnerability in a specific API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system as root. The attacker does not require any valid credentials to exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting a crafted API request. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain root privileges on an affected device.

CVSS v3
10.0
EG Score
10.0CRITICALhigh confidence
EG Risk
100
EG Risk 100/100CISA SSVC

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity100% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
CISA SSVC: Attend at low mission impact; Act at medium or high.
Action: No fix is confirmed yet. Restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation sooner than your standard update timelines at low mission impact and as soon as possible at medium or high, and watch the vendor's advisory for the fix.
EPSS PROB
98%
EPSS %ILE
99th
KEV
⚠ Exploited

CISA SSVCAttend at low mission impact; Act at medium or high.

No fix is confirmed yet. Restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation sooner than your standard update timelines at low mission impact and as soon as possible at medium or high, and watch the vendor's advisory for the fix.

Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it: high means the affected system is essential to your organisation's mission, or its compromise could cause irreversible harm to people. CISA's decision table

Published

June 25, 2025

Last Modified

October 28, 2025

Advisory Details (3)

Auto-updated Oct 10, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. No fix on record yet. Sources: cisa.
generic

Zero Day Initiative — CVE-2025-20281: Cisco ISE API Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/blog/2025/7/24/cve-2025-20281-cisco-ise-api-unauthenticated-remote-code-execution-vulnerability
cisa🔴 Active Exploitation

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA. Listed in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2025-20281
generic🔴 Active Exploitation

Cisco Identity Services Engine Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilities

https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-unauth-rce-ZAd2GnJ6

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 38× in last 7d / 193× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 869 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-10-11 02:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-10-10 22:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-10-10 18:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-10-10 13:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-10-10 09:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-10-10 05:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-10-10 00:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-10-09 20:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-10-09 16:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-10-09 12:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-10-09 07:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-10-09 03:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-10-08 23:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-10-08 18:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-10-08 14:24 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-10-08 10:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-10-08 05:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-10-08 01:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-10-07 21:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-10-07 16:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-10-07 12:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-10-07 08:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-10-07 03:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-10-06 23:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-10-06 19:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-10-06 14:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-10-06 10:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-10-06 06:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-10-06 01:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-10-05 21:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-10-05 17:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-10-05 12:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-10-05 08:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-10-05 04:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-10-04 23:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-10-04 19:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-10-04 15:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-10-04 11:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-10-04 06:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-10-04 02:24 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-10-03 22:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-10-03 17:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-10-03 13:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-10-03 09:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-10-03 04:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-10-03 00:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-10-02 20:12 UTCEG score recompute
  23. 2026-10-02 20:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-10-02 15:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-10-02 11:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-10-02 07:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  27. 2026-10-02 02:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-10-01 22:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  29. 2026-10-01 18:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  30. 2026-10-01 13:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  31. 2026-10-01 09:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  32. 2026-10-01 05:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  33. 2026-10-01 00:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  34. 2026-09-30 20:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  35. 2026-09-30 16:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  36. 2026-09-30 12:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-09-30 07:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  38. 2026-09-30 03:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  39. 2026-09-29 23:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  40. 2026-09-29 18:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  41. 2026-09-29 14:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  42. 2026-09-29 10:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  43. 2026-09-29 05:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  44. 2026-09-29 01:23 UTCEG score recompute
  45. 2026-09-29 01:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-09-28 21:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  47. 2026-09-28 16:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-09-28 12:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  49. 2026-09-28 08:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  50. 2026-09-28 03:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-09-27 23:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  52. 2026-09-27 21:51 UTCCISA KEV update
  53. 2026-09-27 19:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  54. 2026-09-27 14:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  55. 2026-09-27 10:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  56. 2026-09-27 06:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-09-27 01:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  58. 2026-09-26 21:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  59. 2026-09-26 17:13 UTCEG score recompute
  60. 2026-09-26 17:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  61. 2026-09-26 15:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  62. 2026-09-26 15:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  63. 2026-09-26 12:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  64. 2026-09-26 08:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  65. 2026-09-26 04:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-09-25 23:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  67. 2026-09-25 19:35 UTCCISA KEV update
  68. 2026-09-25 19:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  69. 2026-09-25 15:15 UTCGHSA enrichment
  70. 2026-09-25 14:55 UTCCISA KEV update
  71. 2026-09-25 10:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  72. 2026-09-25 06:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  73. 2026-09-25 02:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  74. 2026-09-24 21:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  75. 2026-09-24 19:31 UTCCISA KEV update

Publicly available exploits

(4 references)

Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (3 GitHub PoCs), as is 1 Nuclei detection template. A detection template checks whether a system is affected; it is not necessarily exploit code. Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly.

  • Nucleihttp/cves/2025/CVE-2025-20281.yaml
    Published Oct 15, 2025

    Cisco ISE - Remote Code Execution

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCill-deed/Cisco-CVE-2025-20281-illdeed
    Published Jul 4, 2025

    Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution exploit for CVE-2025-20281 in Cisco ISE ERS API. Execute commands or launch reverse shells as root — no authentication required.

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCgrupooruss/CVE-2025-20281-Cisco
    Published Jul 3, 2025

    This script checks for the presence of the **CVE-2025-20281** vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and ISE-PIC, which allows **unauthenticated remote code execution (RCE)** as root due to insufficient input validation in a specific API.

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCabrewer251/CVE-2025-20281-2-Cisco-ISE-RCE
    Published Jun 27, 2025

    Unauthenticated Python PoC for CVE-2025-20281 RCE against ISE ERS API

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2025-20281?
CVE-2025-20281 is a critical vulnerability published on June 25, 2025. A vulnerability in a specific API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system as root. The attacker does not require any valid credentials to exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability is due to…
When was CVE-2025-20281 disclosed?
CVE-2025-20281 was first published on June 25, 2025, with the most recent update on October 28, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2025-20281 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2025-20281 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on July 28, 2025, affecting Cisco Identity Services Engine. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate attention. No fix is confirmed yet. Restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation, and watch the vendor's advisory for the fix.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-20281?
CVE-2025-20281 has a CVSS v3 base score of 10.0 (NVD).
Which products are affected by CVE-2025-20281?
CVE-2025-20281 affects Cisco Identity Services Engine.
How do I remediate CVE-2025-20281?
No fix for CVE-2025-20281 is confirmed yet. Until one is published, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation — for example, keep it off the internet or limit it to trusted networks — and watch the vendor's advisory for the fix.

Dependency Blast Radius

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