CVE-2022-32973
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 · uneditedAn authenticated attacker could create an audit file that bypasses PowerShell cmdlet checks and executes commands with administrator privileges.
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 · moderate confidenceThis vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker to create a malicious audit file that bypasses PowerShell cmdlet security checks, enabling execution of arbitrary commands with administrator privileges. The flaw appears to be in how the application processes and validates audit files before passing them to PowerShell for execution.
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< 10.2.0CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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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Verify Tenable Nessus is installedLocate Nessus installation directory or check installed programs list. Common paths include C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus on Windows or /opt/nessus on Linux.Affected if Tenable Nessus software is present on the system
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Determine installed Nessus versionRun 'nessusd -v' or 'nessus -v' from the Nessus bin directory, or check the About section in the Nessus web interface.Affected if Installed version is lower than 10.2.0 (for example, 10.1.x, 10.0.x, or earlier)
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Confirm audit file feature is accessibleCheck if the user has access to create, import, or modify Nessus audit files through the Nessus web interface or command-line tools.Affected if Authenticated users can upload or configure custom audit policy files
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Verify PowerShell integration is enabledExamine Nessus scan policies to determine if PowerShell-based audit checks or custom PowerShell scripts are configured within scan templates.Affected if PowerShell cmdlet execution is permitted within Nessus audit policies or custom checks
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Check user authentication statusReview Nessus user accounts and confirm which users have permissions to create or modify audit policies.Affected if An authenticated user with policy modification privileges exists in the Nessus environment
A user is affected if they have Tenable Nessus installed with a version lower than 10.2.0 and the audit file/PowerShell functionality is accessible to authenticated users.
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.
dbcve · scoped10.2.0
Implement strict validation and sanitization of audit file content before processing, enforce allowlist-based cmdlet verification instead of relying on blacklist approaches, and ensure audit file parsing runs with least privilege rather than elevated administrator permissions.
Nessus 10.2.0
- Upgrade Nessus to version 10.2.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the Nessus version in the web interface (Help > About)
- Test that Nessus scans function normally after the upgrade
- Ensure proper authentication controls remain in place for users with audit file creation permissions
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,504.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-32973 — 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-2022-32973 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data