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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2025-24915: Tenable Nessus Agent · Incorrect Default Permissions

Affects Tenable Nessus AgentSource CVE Database V5

0

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 8% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 21 Mar 2025

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

What to do

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Tenable Nessus AgentAffected
  • =0
Fixed in–

AI-suggested

  1. Upgrade Nessus Agent to version 10.8.3 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed.
  2. Audit all Windows hosts with Nessus Agent installed in non-default directories to verify and correct directory and sub-directory permissions, ensuring they follow the principle of least privilege.
  3. Restrict local user permissions on endpoints to prevent unauthorized directory modifications.
  4. Implement endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for suspicious local privilege escalation attempts.
  5. Enforce strict access controls and user account management to minimize the number of users with local access.
  6. Regularly review and harden installation procedures to avoid non-default paths unless necessary, and document permission requirements.
  7. Conduct internal penetration testing focusing on local privilege escalation vectors to identify similar misconfigurations.
  8. Educate system administrators and security teams about the risks of improper directory permissions and the importance of patch management.

Description

When installing Nessus Agent to a non-default location on a Windows host, Nessus Agent versions prior to 10.8.3 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.

References

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