Cisco Identity Services Engine XML External Entity Injection Vulnerability

published 2021-10-06 5 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2021-21356

cvss: 6.4; version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 0.7%; EPSS 0.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 54%
public exploits: 0; none known

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access sensitive information or conduct a server-side request forgery (SSRF) attack through an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper handling of XML External Entity (XXE) entries when parsing certain XML files. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by uploading a crafted XML file that contains references to external entities. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to retrieve files from the local system, resulting in the disclosure of sensitive information, or cause the web application to perform arbitrary HTTP requests on behalf of the attacker.

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: none
Automatable: no
Technical impact: partial
Assessed: 2 y ago (2024-11-07)

Exploit prediction

0.74% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 54% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
CNA	3.1	6.4	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
NVD	3.1	5.4	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
NVD	2.0	5.5	AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:N

Affected products

Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine Software

Classification

Weakness

CWE-611 Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference

References

tools.cisco.com /security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ise-xxe-inj-V4VSjEsX
vendor-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2021-34706
NVD CVE-2021-34706

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Summary