EUVD-2025-18279Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Lifecycle Timeline
6DescriptionCVE.org
In Tenable Agent versions prior to 10.8.5 on a Windows host, it was found that a non-administrative user could arbitrarily delete local system files with SYSTEM privilege, potentially leading to local privilege escalation.
AnalysisAI
Local privilege escalation vulnerability in Tenable Agent for Windows (versions prior to 10.8.5) that allows non-administrative users to arbitrarily delete system files with SYSTEM privileges. This vulnerability has a CVSS score of 8.8 (High) and could enable local attackers to compromise system integrity and gain elevated privileges. The attack requires local access but no user interaction, making it a significant risk for multi-user Windows systems running vulnerable Tenable Agent versions.
Technical ContextAI
The vulnerability stems from improper privilege management and insufficient access controls within Tenable Agent (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:tenable:tenable_agent:*:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*). The root cause is classified under CWE-269 (Improper Access Control - Assuming Trust Without Validation), which indicates the application fails to properly validate user privileges before performing file operations with elevated system context. Tenable Agent runs as a system service on Windows hosts and interacts with the file system; the flaw allows a non-administrative user to leverage this elevated process context to delete arbitrary system files, bypassing normal Windows access control mechanisms and potentially disabling security controls or corrupting system functionality.
RemediationAI
Upgrade Tenable Agent to version 10.8.5 or later on all affected Windows hosts; priority: Critical; vendor_advisory: Tenable advisory for CVE-2025-36633 (consult Tenable Security Center or vendor website for official patch links) Workaround: Restrict local system access to trusted users only; implement principle of least privilege for user accounts on systems running Tenable Agent; effectiveness: Partial - reduces attack surface by limiting local access but does not fix underlying vulnerability Mitigation: Monitor and restrict file deletion operations performed by Tenable Agent process; implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized file deletion utilities; maintain Windows file system auditing for privileged file deletion events; effectiveness: Partial - detective controls do not prevent exploitation but improve incident response capability Detection: Monitor Windows event logs for file deletion events with SYSTEM privilege context from non-administrative sessions; alert on unexpected modifications to critical system directories; effectiveness: Partial - post-exploitation detection
More in Nessus Agent
View allPrivilege escalation vulnerability in Tenable Agent for Windows (versions prior to 10.8.5) that allows non-administrativ
Privilege escalation vulnerability in Tenable Agent for Windows (versions prior to 10.8.5) that allows a non-administrat
A vulnerability in Nessus versions 8.9.0 through 8.12.0 for Windows & Nessus Agent 8.0.0 and 8.1.0 for Windows could all
The X509_V_FLAG_X509_STRICT flag enables additional security checks of the certificates present in a certificate chain.
Under certain conditions, a low privileged attacker could load a specially crafted file during installation or upgrade t
Nessus Agent 8.3.0 and earlier was found to contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability which could allow an auth
Nessus Agent 8.3.0 and earlier was found to contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability which could allow an auth
Nessus Agent versions 7.2.0 through 8.2.2 were found to inadvertently capture the IAM role security token on the local h
In SQLite through 3.29.0, whereLoopAddBtreeIndex in sqlite3.c can crash a browser or other application because of missin
Nessus Agent on Windows systems contains improper file permission controls that allow local authenticated users to trigg
Same weakness CWE-269 – Improper Privilege Management
View allSame technique Privilege Escalation
View allShare
External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today