CVE-2026-76425: Cisco ISE SQL Injection Vulnerability

CVE-2026-76425 Overview

CVE-2026-76425 is a SQL injection vulnerability in the APIs of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE). An authenticated remote attacker with valid administrative credentials can inject SQL statements into vulnerable API parameters. Successful exploitation allows the attacker to read arbitrary content from the backend SQL database and conduct server-side request forgery (SSRF) attacks against internal systems.

The flaw is tracked under CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command. Cisco published the advisory on September 16, 2026.

Critical Impact
Authenticated administrators can extract sensitive database content and pivot to internal services via SSRF, expanding the blast radius beyond the ISE appliance itself.

Affected Products

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
Cisco ISE API endpoints processing unsanitized administrative input
Refer to the Cisco Security Advisory for the full list of affected releases

Discovery Timeline

2026-09-16 - CVE-2026-76425 published to NVD
2026-09-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-76425

Vulnerability Analysis

Cisco ISE is a policy management and network access control platform used to enforce identity-based access across enterprise networks. The vulnerability exists in one or more administrative API endpoints that accept parameters later concatenated directly into SQL queries against the backend database.

Because user-supplied values are not properly validated or parameterized, an attacker can break out of the intended query context. The attacker submits crafted values containing SQL syntax that the database engine executes as part of the original statement. This yields two exploitation paths: reading arbitrary rows from the database and coercing the ISE backend to issue outbound requests, resulting in SSRF.

Exploitation requires valid administrative credentials, which limits opportunistic attacks but does not eliminate risk. Compromised admin accounts, insider threats, and post-exploitation scenarios from adjacent vulnerabilities all satisfy the precondition.

Root Cause

The root cause is insufficient input validation on parameters that are concatenated directly into SQL queries, rather than passed through parameterized statements or prepared queries. This is a classic [CWE-89] pattern where the trust boundary between authenticated API input and the database layer is not enforced.

Attack Vector

The attack is delivered over the network against ISE administrative API endpoints. The attacker authenticates with valid administrator credentials and sends a crafted HTTP request containing SQL statements embedded in a vulnerable parameter. The scope change reflected in the CVSS vector indicates that the impact reaches beyond the vulnerable component, which aligns with the described SSRF capability.

No verified public exploit code is available at the time of writing. See the Cisco Security Advisory for technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-76425

Indicators of Compromise

Administrative API requests containing SQL metacharacters such as single quotes, UNION, SELECT, --, or /* in parameter values
Unexpected outbound HTTP or TCP connections initiated by the ISE appliance to internal or external hosts, indicating SSRF
Database error messages or unusually large response bodies returned from administrative API endpoints
Administrative API activity from accounts or source IPs that do not match normal operator baselines

Detection Strategies

Enable verbose logging on ISE administrative APIs and forward request and response metadata to a centralized analytics platform
Deploy web application firewall or API gateway rules that flag SQL injection payloads in requests destined for ISE management interfaces
Correlate ISE outbound network flows with administrative API activity to identify SSRF patterns originating from API calls

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor administrative session activity for anomalous query volume, response sizes, or off-hours access
Alert on any outbound connection from ISE management interfaces to non-approved destinations
Review audit logs for administrative accounts performing API operations outside their documented duties

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-76425

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the fixed Cisco ISE release identified in the Cisco Security Advisory
Rotate administrative credentials and enforce multi-factor authentication on all ISE administrator accounts
Restrict access to ISE administrative APIs to a small set of trusted management workstations or jump hosts
Review recent administrative API activity for signs of exploitation, focusing on abnormal parameters and outbound requests

Patch Information

Cisco has published fixed software addressing this vulnerability. Refer to the Cisco Security Advisory cisco-sa-ise-multi-hrP9jQSQ for the specific fixed release numbers and upgrade guidance for your deployment.

Workarounds

No official workarounds are listed by Cisco; upgrading to a fixed release is the supported remediation
Reduce exposure by placing ISE administrative interfaces on isolated management VLANs
Enforce network egress filtering on ISE nodes to limit the reach of any successful SSRF
Apply least-privilege principles to ISE administrative roles and remove unused administrator accounts

bash

# Example: restrict inbound access to ISE admin API to a management subnet
# (Illustrative firewall rule; adapt to your environment)
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -s 10.10.0.0/24 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 443 -j DROP

# Example: restrict outbound egress from ISE nodes to approved destinations only
iptables -A OUTPUT -d 10.20.0.0/16 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A OUTPUT -j DROP