dbcve.org
NessusApplication · Tenable

CVE-2023-6062

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.5.7 / 10.6.3 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
An arbitrary file write vulnerability exists where an authenticated, remote attacker with administrator privileges on the Nessus application could alter Nessus Rules variables to overwrite arbitrary files on the remote host, which could lead to a denial of service condition.

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

This is an authenticated arbitrary file write vulnerability in Tenable Nessus. An attacker with administrator-level privileges can manipulate Nessus Rules variables to write to arbitrary file locations on the host system, potentially overwriting critical files and causing a denial of service condition.

MitigationRestrict administrator access to trusted personnel only, implement least-privilege principles, and apply vendor patches when available. Monitor Nessus Rules configurations for unauthorized changes.

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:< 10.5.7>= 10.6.0, < 10.6.3

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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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. Identify the installed Nessus version
    Use the Nessus command-line interface (nessuscli --version) or check the About section in the Nessus web interface to determine the exact version number
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 10.5.7, or greater than or equal to 10.6.0 but lower than 10.6.3
  2. Verify administrator access exists
    Review user accounts with administrator-level privileges in Nessus by accessing the 'Users' or 'Administration' section of the Nessus web interface
    Affected if There are administrator accounts present, especially unauthorized or unexpected ones
  3. Inspect Nessus Rules configurations
    Navigate to the Nessus Rules settings (typically found under 'Policies' or 'Advanced' settings in the Nessus web interface) and examine any configured rules that contain file path variables or custom variables
    Affected if Nessus Rules are configured with variables that accept file path inputs or allow manipulation of file write locations
  4. Check for suspicious rule modifications
    Review audit logs or configuration change history for Nessus Rules, looking for recent changes to rule variables that could specify arbitrary file paths
    Affected if Recent or unauthorized modifications to Nessus Rules variables are present, particularly those referencing system file paths outside the Nessus default directories

A user is affected if their Nessus installation version falls within the vulnerable range (< 10.5.7 or >= 10.6.0, < 10.6.3) AND administrator-level access is available to manipulate Nessus Rules configuration variables.

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 10.5.7 / 10.6.3 or later
Fixed in 10.5.710.6.3
Interim mitigation

Restrict administrator access to trusted personnel only, implement least-privilege principles, and apply vendor patches when available. Monitor Nessus Rules configurations for unauthorized changes.

Recommended fix High confidence

Nessus 10.5.7 or Nessus 10.6.3 (or later)

  1. Identify current Nessus version via 'nessuscli --version' command or through the Nessus web UI (Help > About)
  2. Download the Nessus installation package for your operating system from the official Tenable downloads page (www.tenable.com/products/nessus/nessus-downloads)
  3. If currently on 10.5.x branch: upgrade to version 10.5.7
  4. If currently on 10.6.x branch: upgrade to version 10.6.3 or later
  5. Restart the Nessus service after installation completes
  6. Verify successful upgrade by checking the version shows 10.5.7 or >= 10.6.3
Caveat Standard upgrade - back up configuration files before upgrade; plan for brief service interruption during upgrade process

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

Fix this in Nessus Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,880.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-6062 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-6062 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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