NessusApplication · Tenable

CVE-2022-4313

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.4.2 / 202212081952 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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 · unedited
A vulnerability was reported where through modifying the scan variables, an authenticated user in Tenable products, that has Scan Policy Configuration roles, could manipulate audit policy variables to execute arbitrary commands on credentialed scan targets.

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 confidence

Authenticated users with Scan Policy Configuration roles can manipulate audit policy variables to achieve arbitrary command execution on credentialed scan targets. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation of scan variables, allowing injection of malicious commands that are then executed during credentialed scans.

MitigationRestrict Scan Policy Configuration roles to only trusted administrators, apply vendor patches when available, and implement least-privilege access controls for scan policies.

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
NessusApplication
Affected:< 10.4.2
Plugin FeedPlugin / extension
Affected:< 202212081952

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Nessus version
    In the Nessus UI, go to About (or use the API: GET /server/properties). Compare the version to the affected range: < 10.4.2
    Affected if The installed version is below 10.4.2
  2. Check Plugin Feed version
    In the Nessus UI, go to Plugins > Feed Settings (or use the API: GET /plugins/plugin_feed_info). Compare the feed version to 202212081952
    Affected if The Plugin Feed version is earlier than 202212081952
  3. Identify Scan Policy Configuration role assignments
    In Nessus, go to Users > Users and Roles. Review which users have the Scan Policy Configuration role assigned
    Affected if Any user account (especially untrusted or non-administrator accounts) has the Scan Policy Configuration role enabled
  4. Review audit policy scan variables
    Examine existing scan policies under Policies > Scan Policies. Inspect any custom audit variables, macros, or user-defined parameters for unusual syntax or command-like entries
    Affected if Audit policies contain unexpected command injection patterns in variable fields (such as semicolons, backticks, or $(... ) constructs)
  5. Check for credentialed scan usage
    Review active or historical scans in the Scans folder. Identify scans that use credentials (e.g., SSH, Windows, database credentials) for target systems
    Affected if Credentialed scans exist in the environment (the vulnerability is exploited during credentialed scans)

A user is affected if their Nessus version is below 10.4.2 or Plugin Feed is before 202212081952 AND there are users with Scan Policy Configuration roles AND credentialed scans are configured.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.4.2 / 202212081952 or later
Fixed in 10.4.2202212081952
Interim mitigation

Restrict Scan Policy Configuration roles to only trusted administrators, apply vendor patches when available, and implement least-privilege access controls for scan policies.

Recommended fix High confidence

Nessus 10.4.2, Plugin Feed 202212081952

  1. Upgrade Nessus to version 10.4.2 or later
  2. Upgrade the Nessus Plugin Feed to version 202212081952 or later
  3. After upgrading, verify the versions by checking About Nessus in the web interface to confirm the upgrade was successful

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Nessus Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-4313 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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