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NessusApplication · Tenable

CVE-2025-36630

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.8.5 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
In Tenable Nessus versions prior to 10.8.5 on a Windows host, it was found that a non-administrative user could overwrite arbitrary local system files with log content at SYSTEM privilege.

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

A local privilege escalation vulnerability in Tenable Nessus versions prior to 10.8.5 on Windows allows a non-administrative user to overwrite arbitrary local system files with log content, executed at SYSTEM privilege level. This stems from improper privilege handling in the Nessus service that permits low-privileged users to manipulate file paths used by the logging functionality.

MitigationUpgrade Tenable Nessus to version 10.8.5 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict access to the Nessus service to administrator accounts only and monitor for unauthorized file modification attempts.

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:< 10.8.5

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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. Check if Tenable Nessus is installed
    Open Services (services.msc) and look for 'Tenable Nessus' service, or check for Nessus installation directory at C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus
    Affected if Tenable Nessus service or installation directory is present on the system
  2. Identify the installed Nessus version
    Run 'nessuscli.exe --version' from the Nessus installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\nessuscli.exe), or check the version in the Tenable Nessus entry in Programs and Features
    Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 10.8.5 (for example, 10.8.4, 10.8.3, etc.)
  3. Verify the Nessus service runs with elevated privileges
    Open Services (services.msc), right-click the Tenable Nessus service, select Properties, and check the 'Log on as' account. Alternatively, run 'sc qc nessuservice' from Command Prompt
    Affected if The service is configured to run as SYSTEM, Local System, or another privileged account rather than a low-privilege service account
  4. Check file system permissions on Nessus log directories
    Navigate to the Nessus log directory (typically C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\logs or C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\var\nessus\logs), right-click the folder, select Properties, then Security, and review which users have Write or Modify permissions
    Affected if Non-administrative users or standard users have Write or Modify permissions to Nessus log directories or can modify log file paths used by the service
  5. Identify non-administrative users on the system
    Run 'net user' from Command Prompt to list local users, or open Computer Management > Local Users and Groups to see which standard user accounts exist
    Affected if Standard (non-admin) user accounts exist on the system in addition to the Nessus service

The system is affected if Nessus is installed with a version lower than 10.8.5, the service runs with SYSTEM/elevated privileges, and non-administrative users have write access to Nessus log directories that could be manipulated for privilege escalation.

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 10.8.5 or later
Fixed in 10.8.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Tenable Nessus to version 10.8.5 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict access to the Nessus service to administrator accounts only and monitor for unauthorized file modification attempts.

Recommended fix High confidence

10.8.5

  1. Ensure you have a backup of your Nessus configuration and policy data before upgrading
  2. Download Nessus version 10.8.5 or later from the official Tenable website
  3. Stop the Nessus service on the Windows host
  4. Run the Nessus installer for version 10.8.5 or later
  5. Follow the installation wizard prompts to complete the upgrade
  6. Start the Nessus service after installation completes
  7. Verify the Nessus version shows 10.8.5 or later in the web interface or via command line

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

Fix this in Nessus 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-2025-36630 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