Skip to main content

Nessus CVE-2023-0101

HIGH
Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269)
2023-01-20 vulnreport@tenable.com
8.8
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Least privilege enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could escalate privileges to gain unauthorized elevated access by sending crafted requests to the affected application.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.8% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAI

A privilege escalation vulnerability was identified in Nessus versions 8.10.1 through 8.15.8 and 10.0.0 through 10.4.1. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. This Improper Privilege Management vulnerability could allow attackers to escalate privileges to gain unauthorized elevated access.

RemediationAI

A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Apply principle of least privilege, validate privilege transitions, implement proper role separation.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269), which allows attackers to escalate privileges to gain unauthorized elevated access. A privilege escalation vulnerability was identified in Nessus versions 8.10.1 through 8.15.8 and 10.0.0 through 10.4.1. An authenticated attacker could potentially execute a specially crafted file to obtain root or NT AUTHORITY / SYSTEM privileges on the Nessus host. Affected products include: Tenable Nessus. Version information: through 8.15.8.

Know when Nessus gets its next vulnerability

  • Watch products and get an email when something new is published
  • Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 8.8 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

A privilege escalation vulnerability was identified in Nessus versions 8.10.1 through 8.15.8 and 10.0.0 through 10.4.1. An authenticated attacker could potentially execute a specially crafted file to obtain root or NT AUTHORITY / SYSTEM privileges on the Nessus host.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.8%
Top 47% exploitable
Data Quality
2 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.8%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

45
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +44
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:tenable:nessus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:tenable:nessus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More in Nessus

View all
CVE-2021-3449 MEDIUM
5.9 Mar 25

An OpenSSL TLS server may crash if sent a maliciously crafted renegotiation ClientHello message from a client. Rated med

CVE-2022-0778 HIGH POC
7.5 Mar 15

The BN_mod_sqrt() function, which computes a modular square root, contains a bug that can cause it to loop forever for n

CVE-2021-3450 HIGH
7.4 Mar 25

The X509_V_FLAG_X509_STRICT flag enables additional security checks of the certificates present in a certificate chain.

CVE-2016-4055 MEDIUM POC
6.5 Jan 23

The duration function in the moment package before 2.11.2 for Node.js allows remote attackers to cause a denial of servi

CVE-2022-28291 MEDIUM POC
6.5 Oct 17

Insufficiently Protected Credentials: An authenticated user with debug privileges can retrieve stored Nessus policy cred

CVE-2018-5407 MEDIUM POC
4.7 Nov 15

Simultaneous Multi-threading (SMT) in processors can enable local users to exploit software vulnerable to timing attacks

CVE-2014-4980 MEDIUM POC
5.0 Jul 23

The /server/properties resource in Tenable Web UI before 2.3.5 for Nessus 5.2.3 through 5.2.7 allows remote attackers to

CVE-2023-2005 HIGH
8.8 Jun 26

Vulnerability in Tenable Tenable.Io, Tenable Nessus, Tenable Security Center.Io: before Plugin Feed ID #202306261202 ; N

CVE-2023-0524 HIGH
8.8 Feb 01

As part of our Security Development Lifecycle, a potential privilege escalation issue was identified internally. Rated h

CVE-2022-32973 HIGH
8.8 Jun 21

An authenticated attacker could create an audit file that bypasses PowerShell cmdlet checks and executes commands with a

CVE-2026-103946 HIGH
8.7 Oct 14

Authenticated SQL injection in Tenable Nessus lets any user with a valid low-privilege Nessus account read or modify dat

CVE-2025-36630 HIGH
8.4 Jul 02

In Tenable Nessus versions prior to 10.8.5 on a Windows host, it was found that a non-administrative user could overwrit

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy