Evidence used
- No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
- The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
- EPSS is 2.38% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2018
CVE-2018-0277High confidence
n/a Cisco Identity Services Engine: Improper Certificate Validation
Unknown · Cisco Identity Services Engine
Official source article: Cisco CISCO-SA-20180516-ISEEAP ↗. Check the applicable product and release in the original source.
8.6HighCVSS 3.0
Within 7 days
Fix not verifiedHigh technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityHigh→Operational priority:High, unchanged from published severity.unchanged
Compensating controls
- Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
- Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Unknown Cisco Identity Services Engine and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.
Fix not verified01
What, why and how
A vulnerability in the Extensible Authentication Protocol-Transport Layer Security (EAP-TLS) certificate validation during EAP authentication for the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the ISE application server to restart unexpectedly, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected system. The vulnerability is due to incomplete input validation of the client EAP-TLS certificate. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by initiating EAP authentication over TLS to the ISE with a crafted EAP-TLS certificate. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to restart the ISE application server, resulting in a DoS condition on the affected system. The ISE application could continue to restart while the client attempts to establish the EAP authentication connection. If an attacker attempted to import the same EAP-TLS certificate to the ISE trust store, it could trigger a DoS condition on the affected system. This exploit vector would require the attacker to have valid administrator credentials. The vulnerability affects Cisco ISE, Cisco ISE Express, and Cisco ISE Virtual Appliance. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCve31857.
What
A vulnerability in the Extensible Authentication Protocol-Transport Layer Security (EAP-TLS) certificate validation during EAP authentication for the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the ISE application server to restart unexpectedly, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected system. The vulnerability is due to incomplete input validation of the client EAP-TLS certificate. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by initiating EAP authentication over TLS to the ISE with a crafted EAP-TLS certificate. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to restart the ISE application server, resulting in a DoS condition on the affected system. The ISE application could continue to restart while the client attempts to establish the EAP authentication connection. If an attacker attempted to import the same EAP-TLS certificate to the ISE trust store, it could trigger a DoS condition on the affected system. This exploit vector would require the attacker to have valid administrator credentials. The vulnerability affects Cisco ISE, Cisco ISE Express, and Cisco ISE Virtual Appliance. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCve31857.
Why
The product does not validate, or incorrectly validates, a certificate.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may disrupt the affected service.
What
A vulnerability in the Extensible Authentication Protocol-Transport Layer Security (EAP-TLS) certificate validation during EAP authentication for the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the ISE application server to restart unexpectedly, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected system. The vulnerability is due to incomplete input validation of the client EAP-TLS certificate. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by initiating EAP authentication over TLS to the ISE with a crafted EAP-TLS certificate. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to restart the ISE application server, resulting in a DoS condition on the affected system. The ISE application could continue to restart while the client attempts to establish the EAP authentication connection. If an attacker attempted to import the same EAP-TLS certificate to the ISE trust store, it could trigger a DoS condition on the affected system. This exploit vector would require the attacker to have valid administrator credentials. The vulnerability affects Cisco ISE, Cisco ISE Express, and Cisco ISE Virtual Appliance. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCve31857.
Why
The product does not validate, or incorrectly validates, a certificate.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may disrupt the affected service.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation No confirmed evidence
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- a network path → Improper Certificate Validation → disrupt the affected service
- Attack surface
- Network
- Privileges required
- None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Changed: exploitation can affect a different security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-295 ↗
CWE-295: Improper Certificate Validation. The product does not validate, or incorrectly validates, a certificate.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:HCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.0: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SChangedScope: The attack can affect a component governed by a different security authority.CNoneConfidentiality impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.INoneIntegrity impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- Stolen credentials, tokens and legitimate administration functions may provide continued access without deploying a large custom toolset.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Fix not verified
- Affected
- Cisco Identity Services Engine: Cisco Identity Services Engine
- Fixed
- No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
- Action
- No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
- Workaround
- No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 17 May 2018 · Last source change 29 Nov 2024, 15:09 UTC · CWE-295 · Improper Certificate Validation
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-01
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2018-1100
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment
Missing structured fields: affected product. Missing data is not evidence of low risk; review the primary advisory.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
- ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2018-1100 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.ENISA EUVD ↗
- Before
- not recorded
- After
- {"euvdId":"EUVD-2018-1100"}
- Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: added vendor advisory: tools.cisco.com/cisco-sa-20180516-iseeap.tools.cisco.com ↗
- Before
- no authoritative guidance recorded
- After
- vendor advisory: tools.cisco.com/cisco-sa-20180516-iseeap
- SeveritySeverity changed from Unknown to High.NIST NVD ↗
- Before
- Unknown
- After
- High
- CVSS scoreCVSS score changed from not recorded to 8.6 (CVSS 3.0 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H).NIST NVD ↗
- Before
- not recorded
- After
- 8.6 (CVSS 3.0 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H)
- Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.CNA ↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.