CVE-2026-15265
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 · uneditedA path traversal vulnerability in Tenable Agent 11.2.0 and 11.1.3 and lower allows a privileged attacker to write arbitrary files outside the intended plugin directory, potentially leading to remote code execution.
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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 confidenceA path traversal vulnerability in Tenable Agent versions 11.2.0 and 11.1.3 and lower allows a privileged attacker to escape the intended plugin directory and write arbitrary files to arbitrary locations on the system, potentially leading to remote code execution.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Tenable Agent versionRun 'nessusagent -v' or check the installed package version using the system package manager (e.g., 'dpkg -l nessus-agent', 'rpm -qi nessus-agent', or check Programs and Features on Windows)Affected if The installed version is 11.2.0 or lower, or 11.1.3 or lower
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Locate Tenable Agent plugin directoryCheck the Tenable Agent configuration for the plugin directory path. On Linux/Unix, common paths include /opt/nessus_agent/var/nessus/plugins/ or /var/lib/nessus/plugins/. On Windows, check %ProgramData%\Tenable\Nessus Agent\nessus\plugins\Affected if The plugin directory exists and is accessible to privileged users (the vulnerability requires writing files outside this directory)
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Check for unauthorized files outside plugin directorySearch for newly created or suspicious files in sensitive system directories (e.g., /tmp, /var/tmp, /etc, %TEMP%, %SystemRoot%\System32) that may have been placed via the path traversal. Use file system integrity tools or compare against a known-good baselineAffected if Unexpected or unknown files exist in system directories, especially executable files or scripts, that were not placed by legitimate administration
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Review Tenable Agent audit and agent logsExamine Tenable Agent logs in /opt/nessus_agent/var/nessus/logs/ (Linux/Unix) or %ProgramData%\Tenable\Nessus Agent\logs\ (Windows) for unusual file write operations, path traversal patterns (e.g., '../', '..\'), or errors related to plugin loadingAffected if Logs show attempts to write files outside the designated plugin directory or anomalous file operations
You are affected if Tenable Agent version 11.2.0 or lower, or 11.1.3 or lower is installed and the environment allows privileged access that could exploit the path traversal to write files outside the plugin directory.
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.
From vendor dataUpgrade Tenable Agent to a patched version beyond 11.2.0 and 11.1.3; verify that plugin directory restrictions are properly enforced and monitor for any unauthorized file creation attempts.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,504.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-15265 — 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-2026-15265 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
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