Privilege escalation in Tenable Nessus
| Risk | Low |
| Patch available | YES |
| Number of vulnerabilities | 1 |
| CVE-ID | CVE-2021-20135 |
| CWE-ID | CWE-264 |
| Exploitation vector | Local |
| Public exploit | N/A |
| Vulnerable software Subscribe |
Tenable Nessus Client/Desktop applications / Software for system administration |
| Vendor | Tenable Network Security |
Security Bulletin
This security bulletin contains one low risk vulnerability.
1) Privilege escalation
EUVDB-ID: #VU57847
Risk: Low
CVSSv3.1: 5.8 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]
CVE-ID: CVE-2021-20135
CWE-ID:
CWE-264 - Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls
Exploit availability: No
DescriptionThe vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.
The vulnerability exists due to Nessus does not properly impose security restrictions. A local administrator can run specific executables on the Nessus Agent host.
MitigationInstall updates from vendor's website.
Vulnerable software versionsTenable Nessus: 8.0.0 - 8.15.2
External linkshttp://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2021-18
Q & A
Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?
No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.
Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?
No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.
