CVE-2021-20079

Host privilege escalation via crafted file upload

Published Jun 29, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Privilege escalation in Tenable Nessus 8.13.2 and earlier allows local users to gain administrator privileges on the host. Tenable has disclosed only that a specially crafted file upload triggers the escalation; it has not identified the handler or unsafe processing step. Exploitation requires an existing Nessus administrator account and grants host-level administrative control.

CVSS severity6.8
Medium
EPSS probability0.61%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Tenable Nessus 8.13.2 and earlier allows local users to gain administrator privileges on the host. Tenable has disclosed only that a specially crafted file upload triggers the escalation; it has not identified the handler or unsafe processing step. Exploitation requires an existing Nessus administrator account and grants host-level administrative control.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-20079
Published
Jun 29, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
Tenable
Product
Nessus
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jun 29, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=Nessus 8.13.2 and earlier

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

Tenable · Nessusversion=Nessus 8.13.2 and earlier

Published CVSS scores

6.8TenableAV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C
7.2NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
5.3TenableAV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C/E:POC/RL:OF/RC:C
6.7NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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