Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-36632

Tenable Nessus Agent ≤ 10.8.5

Published
16 June 2025
Modified
17 June 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0019 9th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-36632 is a high-severity Incorrect Default Permissions (CWE-276) vulnerability in Tenable Nessus Agent. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked at the 9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In Tenable Agent versions prior to 10.8.5 on a Windows host, it was found that a non-administrative user could execute code with SYSTEM privilege.

CWE(s)
CWE-276

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

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CVE-2024-46465Same product: Microsoft Windows
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CVE-2023-41718Same product: Microsoft Windows

Affected Assets

tenable
nessus agent
≤ 10.8.5

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-6 Least Privilege
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • CM-5 Access Restrictions for Change
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 11 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-6 Least Privilege good match
prevent

Enforces least-privilege execution so a non-admin user cannot obtain SYSTEM rights via the Tenable Agent.

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match
prevent

Access-enforcement mechanisms must block unauthorized elevation from standard user to SYSTEM on the agent’s files and services.

CM-5 Access Restrictions for Change partial match
prevent

Restricts who can modify agent binaries, configuration, or service ACLs, directly addressing the CWE-276 permission flaw.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-01 full match
prevents

Hardened baselines and configuration management explicitly require correct default file permissions.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Defining and enforcing least-privilege access permissions directly prevents overly permissive defaults at install time.

ID.AM-08 partial match
prevents

Lifecycle management can encompass permission settings, yet the control is too broad to specifically mitigate incorrect defaults.

PR.PS-06 partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices include establishing secure defaults, but address only the development-phase portion of the weakness.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.9 Configuration management mostly match
prevents

Standard templates that restrict access to utility programs and host parameter settings prevent the assignment of overly permissive default permissions on critical resources.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that reduce the attack surface for weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Derived transitively via CVE→CWE→STIG over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only).

Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
  • V-224833 Permissions for program file directories must conform to minimum requirements. via CWE-276
Windows Server 2019 (2 rules)
  • V-205735 Windows Server 2019 permissions for program file directories must conform to minimum requirements. via CWE-276
  • V-205736 Windows Server 2019 permissions for the Windows installation directory must conform to minimum requirements. via CWE-276
Windows Server 2022 (2 rules)
  • V-254252 Windows Server 2022 permissions for program file directories must conform to minimum requirements. via CWE-276
  • V-254253 Windows Server 2022 permissions for the Windows installation directory must conform to minimum requirements. via CWE-276

References