CVE-2023-6178
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 arbitrary file write vulnerability exists where an authenticated attacker with privileges on the managing 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 confidenceThis is an authenticated arbitrary file write vulnerability in Tenable Nessus where an attacker with management privileges can manipulate Nessus Rules variables to overwrite arbitrary files on the remote host. The vulnerability allows overwriting system files, leading to denial of service.
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< 10.4.4CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine installed Nessus versionLog into the Nessus web interface and navigate to the 'About' page (usually found in the top-right corner under the username), or run 'nessusd --version' from the command line on the Nessus serverAffected if The displayed version is lower than 10.4.4 (for example, 10.4.3, 10.4.2, 10.4.1, etc.)
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Verify management interface accessibilityCheck network accessibility of the Nessus web interface (default ports 8834 for SSL) from untrusted networks. Review firewall rules and access control lists.Affected if The management interface is reachable from networks other than trusted administrator workstations
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Identify users with management privilegesIn the Nessus UI, go to Users > Users and Roles to list all accounts. Check for any unexpected or unauthorized accounts with 'Administrator' or 'Manager' level access.Affected if There are unexpected administrator accounts or accounts with management privileges that were not created by your organization
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Inspect Nessus Rules for suspicious modificationsIn the Nessus web interface, navigate to Scans > Policies and review any custom scan policies that may contain modified 'Nessus Rules' or variable definitions. Check the configuration files in the Nessus installation directory (typically /opt/nessus/etc/nessus/ on Linux or C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\ on Windows) for any user-created .xml policy files with unusual variable assignments.Affected if Custom policies exist with modified rules or variables, or policy files have been altered by unauthorized users
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Review audit logs for rule modification activityAccess Nessus logs (typically in /opt/nessus/var/nessus/logs/ on Linux or C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\logs\ on Windows) and search for events related to policy or rule changes, particularly those performed by non-administrator accounts.Affected if Log entries show policy modifications performed by accounts that should not have management-level permissions
You are affected if your installed Nessus version is below 10.4.4 AND your management interface is accessible to untrusted users OR unauthorized accounts have obtained management privileges.
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 · scoped10.4.4
Apply the vendor patch from Tenable immediately. Restrict access to the Nessus management interface to only trusted administrators and implement monitoring for suspicious rule modifications.
Nessus 10.4.4
- Upgrade Nessus to version 10.4.4 or later by downloading the latest release from the official Tenable Nessus download page
- Apply the upgrade following standard Nessus upgrade procedures for your operating system
- Restart the Nessus service after upgrade completion
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the Nessus version in the web interface (Help > About)
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-6178 — 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-2023-6178 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data