CriticalCVE-2026-20234

    Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector: Insufficiently Protected Credentials (CVE-2026-20234)

    Published Last modified Sources: BSI, Cisco PSIRT, CVE.org

    What is affected, what to do

    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.

    Update identity_services_engine to version 3.3.0, identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector to version 3.3.0.

    Affected
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0..3.1.0
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p1..3.1.0 p1
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p3..3.1.0 p3
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p2..3.1.0 p2
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.2.0..3.2.0
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p4..3.1.0 p4
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p5..3.1.0 p5
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.2.0 p1..3.2.0 p1
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p6..3.1.0 p6
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.2.0 p2..3.2.0 p2
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p7..3.1.0 p7
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3.0..3.3.0
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.2.0 p3..3.2.0 p3
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.2.0 p4..3.2.0 p4
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p8..3.1.0 p8
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.2.0 p5..3.2.0 p5
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.2.0 p6..3.2.0 p6
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p9..3.1.0 p9
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3 Patch 2..3.3 Patch 2
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3 Patch 1..3.3 Patch 1
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3 Patch 3..3.3 Patch 3
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.4.0..3.4.0
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.2.0 p7..3.2.0 p7
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3 Patch 4..3.3 Patch 4
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.4 Patch 1..3.4 Patch 1
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p10..3.1.0 p10
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3 Patch 5..3.3 Patch 5
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3 Patch 6..3.3 Patch 6
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.4 Patch 2..3.4 Patch 2
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3 Patch 7..3.3 Patch 7
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.4 Patch 3..3.4 Patch 3
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.5.0..3.5.0
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.4 Patch 4..3.4 Patch 4
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3 Patch 8..3.3 Patch 8
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.2 Patch 8..3.2 Patch 8
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.5 Patch 1..3.5 Patch 1
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3 Patch 9..3.3 Patch 9
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.2 Patch 9..3.2 Patch 9
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.4 Patch 5..3.4 Patch 5
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.5 Patch 3..3.5 Patch 3
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.5 Patch 2..3.5 Patch 2
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3 Patch 10..3.3 Patch 10
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.3 Patch 11..3.3 Patch 11
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.4 Patch 6..3.4 Patch 6
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.2 Patch 10..3.2 Patch 10
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p72..3.1.0 p72
    • Cisco Identity Services Engine Software eq 3.1.0 p11..3.1.0 p11
    • Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector eq 3.2.0..3.2.0
    • Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector eq 3.1.0..3.1.0
    • Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector eq 3.3.0..3.3.0
    • Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector eq 3.4.0..3.4.0
    • Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector eq 3.5.0..3.5.0

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    9.9

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    9.9

    CVSS v3

    Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: BSI, Cisco PSIRT, CVE.org

    0.4 %

    EPSS score

    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 34.0

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    86.45 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    no public PoC known
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    9.9 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    9.9
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    0.4 %
    Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    34.0
    Elevated — this CVE ranks above at least 10% of all CVEs scored today.
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    —
    Published
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-522

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    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.

    Source: BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF, cisco_csaf, NVD (NIST), cvelistv5

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    CiscoCisco Identity Services Engine Software
    • 3.3 Patch 10
    • 3.1.0
    • 3.4 Patch 2
    • 3.3.0
    • 3.2.0 p6
    • 3.5 Patch 1
    • 3.3 Patch 5
    • 3.1.0 p1
    • 3.1.0 p7
    • 3.4 Patch 3
    • 3.1.0 p9
    • 3.3 Patch 8
    • 3.3 Patch 2
    • 3.4.0
    • 3.1.0 p3
    • 3.3 Patch 4
    • 3.1.0 p6
    • 3.2.0
    • 3.2.0 p7
    • 3.1.0 p10
    • 3.2.0 p3
    • 3.3 Patch 7
    • 3.5 Patch 2
    • 3.3 Patch 6
    • 3.1.0 p72
    • 3.1.0 p4
    • 3.4 Patch 4
    • 3.1.0 p8
    • 3.3 Patch 9
    • 3.2.0 p2
    • 3.2.0 p1
    • 3.1.0 p11
    • 3.1.0 p5
    • 3.1.0 p2
    • 3.2 Patch 8
    • 3.2.0 p4
    • 3.4 Patch 5
    • 3.3 Patch 3
    • 3.2 Patch 10
    • 3.3 Patch 11
    • 3.2 Patch 9
    • 3.5 Patch 3
    • 3.4 Patch 1
    • 3.5.0
    • 3.3 Patch 1
    • 3.2.0 p5
    • 3.4 Patch 6
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    • —
    CiscoCisco ISE Passive Identity Connector
    • 3.5.0
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-522Insufficiently Protected Credentials

      Class

      The product transmits or stores authentication credentials, but it uses an insecure method that is susceptible to unauthorized interception and/or retrieval.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-522

    References & sources

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. Initial analysis by NVDNVD

      Newly listed as affected:
      Show 3 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Product configurationadded
      —
      OR *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.4.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.3.0:patch1:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.3.0:patch2:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.3.0:patch3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.3.0:patch4:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.3.0:patch5:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.4.0:patch1:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.3.0:patch6:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.4.0:patch2:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.4.0:patch3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.3.0:patch7:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.4.0:patch4:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.4.0:patch5:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.5.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.5.0:patch1:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.5.0:patch2:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.3.0:patch10:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.3.0:patch8:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.3.0:patch9:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.5.0:patch3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.3.0:patch11:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:3.4.0:patch6:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 3.1.0 up to (excluding) 3.3.0
      Product configurationadded
      —
      OR *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.3.0:patch1:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.3.0:patch2:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.3.0:patch3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.3.0:patch4:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.3.0:patch5:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.4.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.4.0:patch1:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.3.0:patch6:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.4.0:patch2:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.4.0:patch3:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.4.0:patch4:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.4.0:patch5:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.3.0:patch10:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.3.0:patch7:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.3.0:patch8:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.3.0:patch9:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.3.0:patch11:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:3.4.0:patch6:*:*:*:*:*:* *cpe:2.3:a:cisco:identity_services_engine_passive_identity_connector:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 3.1.0 up to (excluding) 3.3.0
      Reference typeadded
      —
      Cisco Systems, Inc.: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-hardening-ise-XU5EwX5T Types: Vendor Advisory

      Source identifier: nvd@nist.gov

    2. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: no

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      SSVC assessmentchanged
      {"id":"CVE-2026-20234","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-09-16T00:00:00+00:00"}
      {"id":"CVE-2026-20234","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-09-17T03:57:25.366451Z"}

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    3. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: no

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      SSVC assessmentadded
      —
      {"id":"CVE-2026-20234","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-09-16T00:00:00+00:00"}

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    4. ReceivedCisco

      CVSS V3.1: AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

      Weakness type: CWE-522

      Description added or changed

      Show 5 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Descriptionadded
      —
      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.
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-522
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/20xxx/CVE-2026-20234.json">CVE-2026-20234</a>
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-hardening-ise-XU5EwX5T

      Source identifier: psirt@cisco.com

    Linked advisories

    Embed badge

    Show the severity and KEV status of this vulnerability on your site – with a link back here. The image is updated hourly.

    Badge preview for CVE-2026-20234
    <a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2026-20234"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2026-20234.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2026-20234 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>