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.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
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-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 lookupCVE-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- 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
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.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe 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.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N1.72.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.8MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20210707 Cisco Identity Services Engine Stored Cross-Site Scripting VulnerabilitiesCVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_CISCO
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
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.
