dbcve.org
Nessus Network MonitorApplication · Tenable

CVE-2025-24916

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.5.1 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
When installing Tenable Network Monitor to a non-default location on a Windows host, Tenable Network Monitor versions prior to 6.5.1 did not enforce secure permissions for sub-directories. This could allow for local privilege escalation if users had not secured the directories in the non-default installation location.

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 confidence

Tenable Network Monitor versions prior to 6.5.1 fail to enforce secure permissions on sub-directories when installed to a non-default location on Windows hosts. This allows local unprivileged users to potentially modify executable files or configurations in those insecure directories, leading to local privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade to Tenable Network Monitor 6.5.1 or later, and ensure any non-default installation directories have restrictive permissions (least privilege) to prevent unauthorized modification.

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
Nessus Network MonitorApplication
Affected:< 6.5.1

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
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 checks

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

  1. Verify Tenable Network Monitor is installed
    Check for the service or application: Open Services.msc and look for 'Tenable Network Monitor' service, or check for the installation directory at typical paths like C:\Program Files\Tenable\Network Monitor or C:\Program Files (x86)\Tenable\Network Monitor
    Affected if The service or installation directory exists on the system
  2. Determine installed version
    Check the version of nm.exe in the Network Monitor installation directory. Right-click nm.exe, select Properties, and view the Details tab for Product Version. Alternatively, open an elevated command prompt and run: dir "C:\Program Files\Tenable\Network Monitor\nm.exe" /s (or the actual path found in step 1)
    Affected if The version shown is earlier than 6.5.1 (for example, 6.5.0, 6.4.x, etc.)
  3. Confirm installation location is non-default
    Identify the actual installation path from step 1. Default installations typically go to C:\Program Files\Tenable\Network Monitor\. Compare your installation path to this default. Non-default locations include custom drives (D:, E:), custom folders outside Program Files, or non-standard directory structures
    Affected if The installation directory is NOT the default C:\Program Files\Tenable\Network Monitor\ path
  4. Inspect sub-directory permissions for write access
    Right-click on sub-directories within the Network Monitor installation folder (such as \bin, \conf, \plugins, or \logs), select Properties, go to the Security tab, and examine which users or groups have Write or Modify permissions. Check if unprivileged users or the Users group have write access to executable folders like \bin or configuration folders like \conf
    Affected if Unprivileged users (non-administrators) or the Users group have Write or Modify permissions on executable or configuration sub-directories in a non-default installation

You are affected if Tenable Network Monitor version is below 6.5.1, it was installed to a non-default directory, AND unprivileged users can write to executable or configuration sub-directories within that installation path.

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 6.5.1 or later
Fixed in 6.5.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Tenable Network Monitor 6.5.1 or later, and ensure any non-default installation directories have restrictive permissions (least privilege) to prevent unauthorized modification.

Recommended fix High confidence

Nessus Network Monitor 6.5.1

  1. Download Tenable Network Monitor version 6.5.1 or later from the official Tenable website (www.tenable.com)
  2. Backup your current Tenable Network Monitor configuration and data
  3. Uninstall the current version of Tenable Network Monitor
  4. Install version 6.5.1 or later, preferably to the default installation location
  5. If using a non-default installation location is required, verify that sub-directory permissions are properly secured after installation
  6. Restart the Tenable Network Monitor service

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

Fix this in Nessus Network Monitor Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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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-2025-24916 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