Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-20194

Published
16 September 2026
Modified
18 September 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 9.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0045 38th percentile
Risk Priority 58 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-20194 is a critical-severity Incorrect Resource Transfer Between Spheres (CWE-669) vulnerability in Cisco Identity Services (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Escape to Host (T1611); ranked at the 38th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

As part of Cisco's ongoing commitment to proactive security and product quality, the Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector (ISE-PIC), engineering teams have conducted a comprehensive internal security review. This review resulted in a software…

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hardening release that addresses multiple internally discovered vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities tracked by CVE-2026-20194 are related to incorrect resource transfer between spheres that are grouped under the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) Pillar CWE-669.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1611 Escape to Host Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may break out of a container or virtualized environment to gain access to the underlying host.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-40225Shared CWE-669
CVE-2023-31114Shared CWE-669
CVE-2024-31573Shared CWE-669
CVE-2026-44917Shared CWE-669
CVE-2025-67895Shared CWE-669
CVE-2024-42158Shared CWE-669
CVE-2025-59692Shared CWE-669
CVE-2026-46448Shared CWE-669
CVE-2026-92952Shared CWE-669
CVE-2024-38519Shared CWE-669

Affected Assets

Cisco
Identity Services
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Enforces logical access authorizations that limit resource transfers to only approved sphere crossings.

Enforces approved information flow authorizations between system components and connected systems, directly stopping improper resource transfers across spheres.

Separates user functionality from system management functions to avoid improper resource or behavior transfer between privilege spheres.

Prevents unintended information leakage through shared system resources when crossing sphere boundaries.

Monitors and controls communications at external and key internal boundaries to block unauthorized transfers between trust domains.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.AA-05 partial match
prevents

Least-privilege authorization policies directly constrain resource transfers across security domains.

PR.DS-02 partial match
prevents

Protecting data-in-transit can limit exposure during inter-sphere transfers but does not address control-flow or authorization errors.

PR.IR-01 partial match
prevents

Logical segmentation and access controls reduce unintended cross-sphere resource movement.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

degrades

Information-transfer rules can prevent improper resource hand-off between spheres.

degrades

Access-control policies limit unintended control over transferred resources.

degrades

Managing access rights reduces risk of unauthorized resource transfer.

mitigates

Network-security controls can block improper cross-sphere transfers.

mitigates

Network segregation directly limits unintended resource movement between spheres.

mitigates

Secure SDLC practices can catch incorrect resource-transfer flaws early.

References