CVE-2023-2005 in Tenable.Io
Summary
by MITRE • 06/26/2023
Vulnerability in Tenable Tenable.Io, Tenable Nessus, Tenable Security Center.This issue affects Tenable.Io: before Plugin Feed ID #202306261202 ; Nessus: before Plugin Feed ID #202306261202 ; Security Center: before Plugin Feed ID #202306261202 .
This vulnerability could allow a malicious actor with sufficient permissions on a scan target to place a binary in a specific filesystem location, and abuse the impacted plugin in order to escalate privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/20/2023
This vulnerability exists within Tenable's security assessment products including Tenable.Io, Nessus, and Security Center, specifically affecting versions prior to the plugin feed release dated June 26, 2023. The flaw represents a privilege escalation vulnerability that manifests through the improper handling of filesystem permissions during scan operations. Attackers with sufficient access rights to a scan target system can exploit this weakness to place malicious binaries in predetermined filesystem locations, thereby leveraging the vulnerable plugin to elevate their privileges beyond normal operational boundaries. The vulnerability stems from inadequate validation of file system access controls and execution contexts within the affected scanning plugins, creating a potential path for unauthorized privilege elevation.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability follows a specific attack pattern that aligns with common privilege escalation techniques documented in the CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration) catalog under CWE-269: "Improper Privilege Management" and CWE-787: "Out-of-bounds Write." The attack requires an adversary to have existing access to a scan target system, typically through legitimate authentication mechanisms, but the vulnerability allows them to escalate their privileges beyond what would normally be permitted by the system's access control policies. This represents a significant security concern because it enables attackers to gain higher-level permissions without requiring additional authentication credentials, essentially providing a backdoor for privilege elevation.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates serious risks for organizations relying on Tenable products for security assessments and vulnerability management. The potential for privilege escalation means that attackers who can execute scans against target systems could gain elevated system privileges, potentially allowing them to access sensitive data, modify system configurations, or establish persistent access points within the network. The vulnerability affects the core functionality of these security tools, undermining their integrity and potentially compromising the security posture of organizations that depend on them for their security operations. This type of vulnerability also relates to ATT&CK technique T1068: "Local Privilege Escalation" and T1548.001: "Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism," demonstrating how security tools themselves can become attack vectors when not properly secured against malicious use.
Organizations should immediately update their Tenable products to the latest plugin feed versions, specifically targeting Plugin Feed ID #202306261202 or later, to remediate this vulnerability. Additionally, security teams should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit the scope of systems that can be scanned by potentially compromised accounts. Regular monitoring of scan execution logs should be conducted to detect unusual patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date security tool configurations and the necessity of implementing principle of least privilege access controls for users who have the ability to initiate security scans against target systems. Organizations should also consider implementing additional security controls such as file integrity monitoring and privileged access management solutions to further protect against potential exploitation of similar vulnerabilities.