CVE-2020-5793
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedA 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 allow an authenticated local attacker to copy user-supplied files to a specially constructed path in a specifically named user directory. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a malicious file and copying the file to a system directory. The attacker needs valid credentials on the Windows system to exploit this vulnerability.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceA path traversal vulnerability in Nessus and Nessus Agent for Windows allows an authenticated local attacker to copy malicious files to specially constructed paths in system directories. The attacker with valid Windows credentials exploits the file copy functionality by using crafted directory names.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data>= 8.9.0, <= 8.12.0= 8.0.0= 8.1.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Nessus or Nessus Agent is installedOn Windows, open Programs and Features or check for Nessus installation in C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus or C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus AgentAffected if Either Nessus or Nessus Agent is present on the system
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Identify the installed Nessus versionRun 'nessuscli --version' from the Nessus installation directory, or check the version in the Tenable Nessus entry in Programs and FeaturesAffected if The version is >= 8.9.0 and <= 8.12.0
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Identify the installed Nessus Agent versionRun 'nessus-agent.exe --version' from the Nessus Agent installation directory, or check the version in the Tenable Nessus Agent entry in Programs and FeaturesAffected if The version is 8.0.0 or 8.1.0
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Verify the operating systemCheck if the host OS is Windows by running 'systeminfo | findstr /C:"OS Name"' or inspecting system propertiesAffected if The operating system is Windows (this vulnerability only affects Windows versions)
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Confirm local authentication is possibleReview Windows user accounts with access to the Nessus/Nessus Agent host and check for presence of local users with login rightsAffected if Local authenticated users exist who could potentially exploit the file copy functionality
You are affected if Nessus version 8.9.0 through 8.12.0 or Nessus Agent version 8.0.0/8.1.0 is installed on Windows and local authenticated users have access to the system.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade Nessus to version 8.12.1 or later and Nessus Agent to version 8.1.1 or later. Limit local system access to trusted, authenticated users and monitor for suspicious file operations in system directories.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5793 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-5793 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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