Improper privilege management in Tenable Nessus
Priority LOW 34CWE-269Published · Updated
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Privilege escalation
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-269.
Summary
Under certain conditions, a low privileged attacker could load a specially crafted file during installation or upgrade to escalate privileges on Windows and Linux hosts.
Why it matters now
Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00237 14th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed Nessus (Tenable): 10.6.2Nessus Agent (Tenable): 10.4.3
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tenable | Nessus | before 10.6.2 | 10.6.2 | Patch available | CNA |
| Tenable | Nessus Agent | before 10.4.3 | 10.4.3 | Patch available | CNA |
- Nessus VendorTenable Affected before 10.6.2 Fixed in 10.6.2 Patch available CNA
- Nessus Agent VendorTenable Affected before 10.4.3 Fixed in 10.4.3 Patch available CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 4
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:a:tenable:nessus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 10.6.2 | Vulnerable | Tenable |
| cpe:2.3:a:tenable:nessus_agent:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | before 10.4.3 | Vulnerable | Tenable |
| cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Running on | Linux |
| cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | not specified by NVD | Running on | Microsoft |
- cpe:2.3:a:tenable:nessus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 10.6.2 Vulnerable ·Tenable
- cpe:2.3:a:tenable:nessus_agent:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 10.4.3 Vulnerable ·Tenable
- cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Running on ·Linux
- cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions not specified by NVD Running on ·Microsoft
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Nessus (Tenable) Fixed in 10.6.2
- Fix · CNA Nessus Agent (Tenable) Fixed in 10.4.3
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-5847
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-q699-cmcj-j36r
References
More Tenable Nessus vulnerabilities
- TI-2022-00687 Infinite loop in BN_mod_sqrt() reachable when parsing certificates CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2021-20962 In Expat (aka libexpat) before 2.4.3, a left shift by 29 (or more) places in the… CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.8
- TI-2021-21076 In doProlog in xmlparse.c in Expat (aka libexpat) before 2.4.3, an integer overflow exists for m_groupSize. CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.1
- TI-2021-02413 NULL pointer deref in signature_algorithms processing CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.9
- TI-2021-02414 CA certificate check bypass with X509_V_FLAG_X509_STRICT CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.4
- TI-2022-07855 Expat (aka libexpat) before 2.4.4 has a signed integer overflow in XML_GetBuffer, for… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
- CVE-2023-5847 · CVE Program
- CVE-2023-5847 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-q699-cmcj-j36r · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences