LiveActive security incident?Get immediate response
CVE Record

CVE-2021-1605: Cisco Identity Services Engine Stored Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerabilities

Multiple vulnerabilities in the web-based management interface of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against a user. These vulnerabilities exist because the web-based management interface does not sufficiently validate user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by injecting malicious code into specific pages of the interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary script code in the context of the affected interface or access sensitive, browser-based information. To exploit these vulnerabilities, the attacker would need valid administrative credentials.

MediumCVSS 4.8Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2021-1605 affects Cisco Identity Services Engine’s web management interface. An attacker who already has valid administrative credentials could store malicious script in interface pages, causing it to run in another user’s browser. Business risk is limited by the high privilege requirement, but ISE is security-critical infrastructure, so exposure should be confirmed.

Executive priority

Treat as a moderate-priority security platform issue. It is not anonymously exploitable, but compromised or misused admin access could affect trusted ISE management sessions and expose browser-based sensitive information.

Technical view

The issue is stored XSS caused by insufficient validation of user-supplied input in Cisco ISE’s web-based management interface. CVSS 3.1 is 4.8, with network attack vector, high privileges required, user interaction required, changed scope, and low confidentiality and integrity impact.

Likely exposure

Potential exposure is Cisco Identity Services Engine Software covered by Cisco’s advisory. The supplied bundle does not list exact affected or fixed versions, so teams must validate installed ISE versions against Cisco’s advisory.

Exploitation context

The sources require valid administrative credentials and user interaction. The bundle does not identify public exploitation, and KEV status is false, so there is no provided evidence of active exploitation.

Researcher notes

This is CWE-79 stored XSS in Cisco ISE management UI. Exploitation requires PR:H and UI:R. The provided evidence does not include affected version ranges, fixed versions, mitigations, or active exploitation claims beyond the vendor advisory and CVE metadata.

Mitigation direction

  • Review Cisco’s advisory for affected and fixed ISE releases.
  • Upgrade or remediate according to Cisco’s official guidance.
  • Restrict ISE administrative access to trusted administrators and management networks.
  • Review administrative account hygiene and remove unnecessary privileged access.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory all Cisco ISE deployments and management interfaces.
  • Compare installed ISE versions with Cisco’s advisory.
  • Confirm administrative access is limited to authorized users.
  • Review ISE administrative activity for unexpected content or configuration changes.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
3

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · medium confidence lookup

CWE-79: User-session and phishing behavior lookup

Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2021-1605 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
4.8 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

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

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
2Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
4.8CVSS 3.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N1.72.7Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

4.8Medium
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2021-1605Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

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

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
CiscoCisco Identity Services Engine Softwaren/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-79 · source CWE mapping

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.