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This document provides information on installing, configuring, upgrading and managing the Nessus vulnerability scanner. It covers installing Nessus on Linux, Windows and Mac OS X, as well as installing Nessus Agents. It also discusses linking Nessus to a Nessus Manager or Tenable.io, and managing Nessus offline.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)

285 views371 pages

Nessus - Linux - Pagada

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You are on page 1/ 371

Nessus 6.

9 User Guide

Last Updated: July 12, 2018

Table of Contents

Welcome to Nessus 6.9 10

Nessus Workflow 13

About Nessus Plugins 14

System Requirements 16

Hardware Requirements 17

Software Requirements 19

Licensing Requirements 22

Download Nessus 23

Before You Begin 25

Host Based Firewalls 26

IPv6 Support 27

Virtual Machines 28

Anti-virus Software 29

Security Warnings 30

Install Nessus and Nessus Agents 31

Install Nessus 32

Install Nessus on Linux 33

Install Nessus on Windows 34

Install Nessus on Mac OS X 36

Nessus Agent Install 38

Install a Nessus Agent on Linux 39

Install a Nessus Agent on Windows 43

Upgrade Nessus and Nessus Agents 51

Nessus Upgrade 52

Upgrade from Evaluation 53

Linux Upgrade 54

Windows Upgrade 55

Mac Upgrade 56

Upgrade a Nessus Agent 57

Configure Nessus 58

Nessus (Home, Professional, or Manager) 60

Link to Nessus Manager 61

Link to Tenable.io 64

Managed by SecurityCenter 66

Install Nessus Offline 67

Manage Nessus Offline 72

Install Nessus Offline 74

Generate Challenge Code 79

Generate Your License 80

Download and Copy License File (nessus.license) 81

Register Your License with Nessus 82

Download and Copy Plugins 83

Install Plugins Manually 84

Update Nessus Plugins using tar.gz 85

Remove Nessus and Nessus Agents 86

Uninstall Nessus on Linux 88

Uninstall Nessus on Windows 90

Uninstall Nessus on Mac OS X 91

Nessus Agent Removal 92

Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Linux 94

Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Windows 96

Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X 97

Nessus Features 98

Navigating Nessus 99

Scans Page 100

Scan Folders 102

Scan Statuses 103

Scan Results 104

Dashboards 106

Scan Results Pages 108

Report Filters 109

Report Screenshots 113

Compare Report Results (Diff) 114

Knowledge Base 115

Exported Results 116

Policies Page 117

Templates 119

Settings 128

Discovery Settings 133

Assessment Settings 142

Report Settings 155

Advanced Settings 157

Credentials 160

Cloud Services 162

Database 164

Host 165

Miscellaneous 179

Mobile 182

Patch Management 185

Plaintext Authentication 193

Compliance 196

Plugins 198

Special Use Templates 199

User Profile Page 202

Settings Page 204

Scanners 205

Scanners / Local / Overview (Manager) 209

Nessus Agents 210

Agent Groups 212

User and Group Accounts 213

Communication 214

Manage Nessus 229

Manage Scans 230

Create a Scan 231

Create an Agent Scan 233

Create a Scan Folder 239

Manage Scans 240

Manage Agent Groups 243

Policies 246

Create a Policy 247

Manage Policies 250

User Profile 252

Account Settings 253

API Keys 255

Change Password 256

Plugin Rules 257

Manage the Settings Page 258

System Settings 259

Scanners / Local / Software Update 260

Nessus UI Software Update Page 261

Update Nessus Version 263

Update Plugins 264

Update Activation Code 265

Update Nessus Software 267

Nessus Professional 269

Nessus Manager 272

Scanners / Local / Overview (Manager) 273

Scanners / Local / Permissions 274

Scanners / Remote / Linked 275

Scanners / Agents / Linked 276

Manage Nessus Agents 280

Manage Accounts 282

Manage Communications 285

LDAP Server 286

SMTP Server 288

Proxy Server 289

CleanCisco ISE 290

Manage Advanced Settings 291

Additional Resources 292

About Scan Targets 293

Command Line Operations 296

Start or Stop Nessus 297

Start or Stop a Nessus Agent 299

Nessus-Service 301

Nessuscli 304

Nessuscli Agent 309

Update Nessus Software 312

Custom SSL Certificates 314

SSL Client Certificate Authentication 315

Create a New Custom CA and Server Certificate 316

Upload a Custom CA Certificate 318

Add a Root CA 319

Create Nessus SSL Certificates for Login 320

Enable Connections with Smart Card or CAC Card 323

Connect with Certificate or Card Enabled Browser 324

Enable SSH Local Security Checks 326

Manage Activation Code 330

View Your Activation Code 331

Reset Activation Code 332

Update Activation Code 333

Manage Nessus License and Registration 335

Nessus Credentialed Checks 336

Credentialed Checks on Windows 338

Prerequisites 342

Enable Windows Logins for Local and Remote Audits 343

Configure Nessus for Windows Logins 346

Credentialed Checks on Unix 347

Prerequisites 348

Enable SSH Local Security Checks 349

Configure Nessus for SSH Host-Based Checks 352

Unofficial PCI ASV Validation Scan 355

Run Nessus as Non-Privileged User 357

Run Nessus on Linux with Systemd as a Non-Privileged User 358

Run Nessus on Linux with init.d Script as a Non-Privileged User 361

Run Nessus on Mac OS X as a Non-Privileged User 363

Run Nessus on FreeBSD as a non-privileged User 368

If you are new to Nessus, see the Nessus Workflow.

Nessus Solutions
Tenable.io
Tenable.io is a subscription based license and is available at the Tenable Store.

Tenable.io enables security and audit teams to share multiple Nessus scanners, scan schedules, scan
policies and most importantly scan results among an unlimited set of users or groups.

By making different resources available for sharing among users and groups, Tenable.io allows for
endless possibilities for creating highly customized work flows for your vulnerability management pro-
gram, regardless of locations, complexity, or any of the numerous regulatory or compliance drivers
that demand keeping your business secure.

In addition, Tenable.io can control multiple Nessus scanners, schedule scans, push policies and view
scan findings—all from the cloud, enabling the deployment of Nessus scanners throughout your net-
work to multiple physical locations, or even public or private clouds.

The Tenable.io subscription includes:

l Unlimited scanning of your perimeter systems

l Web application audits

l Ability to prepare for security assessments against current PCI standards

l Up to 2 quarterly report submissions for PCI ASV validation through Tenable, Inc..

l 24/7 access to the Tenable, Inc. Support Portal for Nessus knowledgebase and support ticket cre-
ation

Tenable.io Product Page

Tenable.io User Manual

Nessus Professional
Nessus Professional, the industry’s most widely deployed vulnerability assessment solution helps you
reduce your organization’s attack surface and ensure compliance. Nessus features high-speed asset
discovery, configuration auditing, target profiling, malware detection, sensitive data discovery, and

Nessus supports more technologies than competitive solutions, scanning operating systems, network
devices, hypervisors, databases, web servers, and critical infrastructure for vulnerabilities, threats, and
compliance violations.

With the world’s largest continuously-updated library of vulnerability and configuration checks, and
the support of Tenable, Inc.’s expert vulnerability research team, Nessus sets the standard for vul-
nerability scanning speed and accuracy.

Nessus Professional Product Page

Nessus Agents
Nessus Agents, available with Tenable.io and Nessus Manager, increase scan flexibility by making it
easy to scan assets without needing ongoing host credentials or assets that are offline, as well as
enable large-scale concurrent scanning with little network impact.

Nessus Agents are lightweight, low-footprint programs that you install locally on hosts to supplement
traditional network-based scanning or to provide visibility into gaps that are missed by traditional
scanning. Nessus Agents collect vulnerability, compliance, and system data, and report that inform-
ation back to a manager for analysis. With Nessus Agents, you extend scan flexibility and coverage. You
can scan hosts without using credentials, as well as offline assets and endpoints that intermittently
connect to the internet. You can also run large-scale concurrent agent scans with little network impact.

Nessus Agents help you address the challenges of traditional network-based scanning, specifically for
the assets where it's impossible or nearly impossible to consistently collect information about your
organization's security posture. Traditional scanning typically occurs at selected intervals or during des-
ignated windows and requires systems to be accessible when a scan is executed. If laptops or other
transient devices are not accessible when a scan is executed, they are excluded from the scan, leaving
you blind to vulnerabilities on those devices. Nessus Agents help reduce your organization’s attack sur-
face by scanning assets that are off the network or powered-down during scheduled assessments or
by scanning other difficult-to-scan assets.

Once installed on servers, portable devices, or other assets found in today’s complex IT environments,
Nessus Agents identify vulnerabilities, policy violations, misconfigurations, and malware on the hosts
where they are installed and report results back to the managing product. You can manage Nessus
Agents with Nessus Manager or Tenable.io (including Tenable.io on-prem).

Nessus Agents Product Page

Nessus Manager
Nessus Manager combines the powerful detection, scanning, and auditing features of Nessus, the

Nessus Manager enables the sharing of resources including Nessus scanners, scan schedules, policies,
and scan results among multiple users or groups. Users can engage and share resources and respons-
ibilities with their co-workers; system owners, internal auditors, risk and compliance personnel, IT
administrators, network admins and security analysts. These collaborative features reduce the time
and cost of security scanning and compliance auditing by streamlining scanning, malware and mis-
configuration discovery, and remediation.

Nessus Manager protects physical, virtual, mobile and cloud environments. Nessus Manager is avail-
able for on-premises deployment or from the cloud, as Tenable.io. Nessus Manager supports the
widest range of systems, devices and assets, and with both agent-less and Nessus Agent deployment
options, easily extends to mobile, transient and other hard-to-reach environments.

1. Ensure that your setup meets the minimum system requirements:

l Hardware Requirements

l Software Requirements

2. Obtain the proper Activation Code for Nessus.

3. Follow the installation steps depending on your Nessus software and operating system:
l Nessus

l Install Nessus on Linux

l Install Nessus on Windows

l Install Nessus on Mac OS X

l Nessus Agent

l Install a Nessus Agent on Linux

l Install a Nessus Agent on Windows

l Install a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X

4. Perform the initial configuration steps for Nessus in the web front end.

5. Create a user account.

6. Create a scan.

As information about new vulnerabilities are discovered and released into the general public domain,
Tenable, Inc.’s research staff designs programs to enable Nessus to detect them.

These programs are named plugins, and are written in the Nessus' proprietary scripting language,
called Nessus Attack Scripting Language (NASL).

Plugins contain vulnerability information, a generic set of remediation actions, and the algorithm to
test for the presence of the security issue.

Nessus supports the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) and supports both v2 and v3 values
simultaneously. If both CVSS2 and CVSS3 attributes are present, both scores will get calculated.
However, in determining the Risk Factor attribute, currently the CVSS2 scores take precedence.

Plugins also are utilized to obtain configuration information from authenticated hosts to leverage for
configuration audit purposes against security best practices.

To view plugin information, see a list of newest plugins, view all Nessus plugins, and search for specific
plugins, see the Nessus Plugins home page.

Example Plugin Information

List of a single host's scan results by plugin Details of a single host's plugin scan
severity and plugin name result

How do I get Nessus Plugins?

By default, plugins are set for automatic updates and Nessus checks for updated components and plu-
gins every 24 hours.

You can also use the nessuscli fetch —register command to manually download plugins. For more
details, see the Command Line section of this guide.

Optionally, during the Registration portion of the Browser Portion of the Nessus installation, you can
choose the Custom Settings link and provide a hostname or IP address to a server which hosts your
custom plugin feed.

Tip: Plugins are obtained from port 443 of plugins.nessus.org, plugins-customers.nessus.org, or plugins-
us.nessus.org.

How do I update Nessus Plugins?

By default, Nessus checks for updated components and plugins every 24 hours. Additionally, you can
manually update plugins from the Scanner Settings Page in the user interface.

You can also use the nessuscli update --plugins-only command to manually update plugins.

For more details, see the Command Line section of this guide.

This section includes information related to the requirements necessary to install Nessus and Nessus
Agents.

l Hardware Requirements

l Software Requirements

l Licensing Requirements

Enterprise networks can vary in performance, capacity, protocols, and overall activity. Resource
requirements to consider for Nessus deployments include raw network speed, the size of the network
being monitored, and the configuration of Nessus.

Nessus Hardware Requirements

Scenario Minimum Recommended Hardware

Nessus scanning up to 50,000 hosts CPU: 4 2GHz cores

Memory: 4 GB RAM (8 GB RAM recommended)

Disk space: 30 GB

Nessus scanning more than 50,000 CPU: 8 2GHz cores

hosts
Memory: 8 GB RAM (16 GB RAM recommended)

Disk space: 30 GB (Additional space may be needed for

reporting)

Nessus Manager with up to 10,000 CPU: 4 2GHz cores

agents
Memory: 16 GB RAM

Disk space: 30 GB (Additional space may be needed for

reporting)

Nessus Manager with up to 20,000 CPU: 8 2GHz cores

agents
Memory: 64 GB RAM

Disk space: 30 GB (Additional space may be needed for

reporting)

Note: Engage with your Tenable representative for large

deployments.

Virtual Machines

Nessus supports Mac, Linux, and Windows operating systems.

Nessus Manager and Nessus Professional

Operating
Supported Versions
System

Linux l Debian 6, 7, and 8 / Kali Linux 1, 2, and Rolling (32-bit)

l Debian 6, 7, and 8 / Kali Linux 1, 2, and Rolling (64-bit)

l Red Hat ES 5 / CentOS 5 / Oracle Linux 5 (including Unbreakable Enterprise

Kernel) (32-bit)

l Red Hat ES 5 / CentOS 5 / Oracle Linux 5 (including Unbreakable Enterprise

Kernel) (64-bit)

l Red Hat ES 6 / CentOS 6 / Oracle Linux 6 (including Unbreakable Enterprise

Kernel) (32-bit)

l Red Hat ES 6 / CentOS 6 / Oracle Linux 6 (including Unbreakable Enterprise

Kernel) (64-bit)

l Red Hat ES 7 / CentOS 7 / Oracle Linux 7 (including Unbreakable Enterprise

Kernel) (64-bit)

l FreeBSD 10 (64-bit)

l Fedora 20 and 21 (64-bit)

l SUSE 10.0 Enterprise (64-bit)

l SUSE 11 Enterprise (32-bit)

l SUSE 11 Enterprise (64-bit)

l Ubuntu 11.10, 12.04, 12.10, 13.04, 13.10, 14.04, and 16.04 (32-bit)

l Ubuntu 11.10, 12.04, 12.10, 13.04, 13.10, 14.04, and 16.04 (64-bit)

Windows l Windows 7, 8, and 10 (32-bit)

l Windows Server 2008, Server 2008 R2*, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, Server
2016, 7, 8, and 10 (64-bit)

Tip: Windows Server 2008 R2’s bundled version of Microsoft IE does not inter-
face with a Java installation properly. This causes Nessus to not perform as
expected in some situations: Microsoft’s policy recommends not using MSIE
on server operating systems.
For increased performance and scan reliability when installing on a Windows
platform, it is highly recommended that Nessus be installed on a server
product from the Microsoft Windows family such as Windows Server 2008 R2.

Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.8 - 10.13

Nessus Agents
Operating
Supported Versions
System

Linux Amazon Linux 2015.03, 2015.09, and 2017.09 (64-bit)

Debian 6, 7, 8, and 9 / Kali Linux 1, 2017.3 (32-bit)

Debian 6, 7, 8, and 9 / Kali Linux 1, 2017.3 (64-bit)

Fedora 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, and 27 (64-bit)

Red Hat ES 5 / CentOS 5 / Oracle Linux 5 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Ker-

nel) (32-bit)

Red Hat ES 5 / CentOS 5 / Oracle Linux 5 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Ker-

nel) (64-bit)

Red Hat ES 6 / CentOS 6 / Oracle Linux 6 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Ker-

nel) (32-bit)

Red Hat ES 6 / CentOS 6 / Oracle Linux 6 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Ker-

nel) (64-bit)

Red Hat ES 7 / CentOS 7 / Oracle Linux 7 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Ker-

nel) (64-bit)

SUSE 11 Enterprise (32-bit)

SUSE 11 and 12 Enterprise (64-bit)

Ubuntu 9.10, 10.04, 11.04, 11.10, 12.04, 12.10, 13.04, 13.10, 14.04, 16.04, and 17.10
(32-bit)

Ubuntu 9.10, 10.04, 11.04, 11.10, 12.04, 12.10, 13.04, 13.10, 14.04, 16.04, and 17.10
(64-bit)

Windows l Windows Server 2008, 7, 8, and 10 (32-bit)

l Windows Server 2008, Server 2008 R2*, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, Server
2016, 7, 8, and 10 (64-bit)

Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.8 - 10.13

Browsers
The following browsers are supported for Nessus.

l Google Chrome (24+)

l Apple Safari (6+)

l Mozilla Firefox (20+)

l Internet Explorer (9+)

PDF Reports
The Nessus .pdf report generation feature requires the latest version of Oracle Java or OpenJDK.

Oracle Java or OpenJDK must be installed prior to the installation of Nessus.

Note: If Oracle Java or OpenJDK is installed after the Nessus installation, Nessus must be reinstalled
for the PDF report generation to function.

Nessus is available to operate either as a subscription or managed by SecurityCenter. Nessus requires

a plugin feed Activation Code to operate in subscription mode. This code identifies which version of
Nessus you are licensed to install and use, and if applicable, how many IP addresses can be scanned,
how many remote scanners can be linked to Nessus, and how many Nessus Agents can be linked to
Nessus Manager. Nessus Manager licenses are specific to your deployment size, especially for large
deployments or deployments with multiple Nessus Manager instances. Discuss your requirements with
your Tenable Customer Success Manager.

It is recommended that you obtain the Activation Code before starting the installation process, as that
information will be required before you can authenticate to the Nessus GUI interface.

Additionally, your activation code:

l is a one-time code, unless your license or subscription changes, at which point a new activation
code will be issued to you.

l must be used with the Nessus installation within 24 hours.

l cannot be shared between scanners.

l is not case sensitive.

l is required to Manage Nessus Offline.

You may purchase a Nessus subscription through Tenable, Inc.’s Online Store at https://store.ten-
able.com/ or via a purchase order through Authorized Nessus Partners. You will then receive an
Activation Code from Tenable, Inc.. This code will be used when configuring your copy of Nessus for
updates.

If you are using SecurityCenter to manage your Nessus scanners, the Activation Code and plugin
updates are managed from SecurityCenter. Nessus needs to be started to be able to communicate with
SecurityCenter, which it will normally not do without a valid Activation Code and plugins. To have Nes-
sus ignore this requirement and start (so that it can get the information from SecurityCenter), enter
“SecurityCenter” (case sensitive) without quotes into the Activation Code box.

Please refer to the following link for the most current information on obtaining an Activation Code:

http://www.tenable.com/products/nessus/nessus-plugins/obtain-an-activation-code

Nessus products are downloaded from the Tenable Support Portal.

When downloading Nessus from the Tenable Support Portal, ensure the package selected is specific
to your operating system and processor.

There is a single Nessus package per operating system and processor. Nessus Manager and Nessus
Professional do not have different packages; your activation code determines which Nessus product
will be installed.

Example Nessus package file names and descriptions

Nessus Packages Package Descriptions

Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Windows 7, 8, and 10 - i386

Win32.msi

Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Windows Server 2008, Server 2008
x64.msi R2*, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, 7, 8, and 10 - x86-64

Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Debian 6 and 7 / Kali Linux - AMD64
debian6_amd64.deb

Nessus-<version num- Nessus <version number> for Mac OS X 10.8, 10.9, and 10.10 - x86-
ber>.dmg 64

Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Red Hat ES 6 / CentOS 6 / Oracle
es6.i386.rpm Linux 6 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel) - i386

Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Fedora 20 and 21 - x86_64

fc20.x86_64.rpm

Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for SUSE 10.0 Enterprise - x86_64
suse10.x86_64.rpm

Nessus-<version number>- Nessus <version number> for Ubuntu 11.10, 12.04, 12.10, 13.04,
ubuntu1110_amd64.deb 13.10, and 14.04 - AMD64

Example Nessus Agent package file names and descriptions

NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Windows Server 2008, Server
ber>-x64.msi 2008 R2*, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, 7, 8, and 10 - x86-64

NNessusAgent-<version Nessus Agent <version number> for Amazon Linux 2015.03,

number>-amzn.x86_64.rpm 2015.09 - x86-64

NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Debian 6 and 7 / Kali Linux -
ber>-debian6_i386.deb i386

NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Mac OS X 10.8, 10.9, and 10.10
ber>.dmg - x86-64

NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Red Hat ES 6 / CentOS 6 /
ber>-es6.x86_64.rpm Oracle Linux 6 (including Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel) - x86_64

NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Fedora 20 and 21 - x86_64
ber>-fc20.x86_64.rpm

NessusAgent-<version num- Nessus Agent <version number> for Ubuntu 11.10, 12.04, 12.10,
ber>-ubuntu1110_ 13.04, 13.10, and 14.04 - AMD64
amd64.deb

When deploying Nessus, knowledge of routing, filters, and firewall policies is often helpful. Deploying
behind a NAT device is not desirable unless it is scanning the internal network. Any time a vulnerability
scan flows through a NAT device or application proxy of some sort, the check can be distorted and a
false positive or negative can result. In addition, if the system running Nessus has personal or desktop
firewalls in place, these tools can drastically limit the effectiveness of a remote vulnerability scan.

Host-based firewalls can interfere with network vulnerability scanning. Depending on your firewall’s
configuration, it may prevent, distort, or hide the probes of a Nessus scan.

Certain network devices that perform stateful inspection, such as firewalls, load balancers, and Intru-
sion Detection/Prevention Systems, may react negatively when a scan is conducted through them. Nes-
sus has a number of tuning options that can help reduce the impact of scanning through such devices,
but the best method to avoid the problems inherent in scanning through such network devices is to
perform a credentialed scan.

This section contains the following deployment considerations:

l Host Based Firewalls

l IPv6 Support

l Virtual Machines

l Anti-virus Software

l Security Warnings

Port 8834
The Nessus UI uses port 8834. If not already open, open port 8834 by consulting your firewall vendor's
documentation for configuration instructions.

Allow Connections
If your Nessus server is configured on a host with 3rd-party firewall such as ZoneAlarm or Windows
firewall, you must configure it to allow connections from the IP addresses of the clients using Nessus.

Nessus and FirewallD

Nessus can be configured to work with FirewallD. When Nessus is installed on RHEL 7, CentOS 7, and
Fedora 20+ systems using firewalld, firewalld can be configured with the Nessus service and Nessus
port.

To open the ports required for Nessus, use the following commands:

>> firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=nessus

>> firewall-cmd --reload

Nessus supports scanning of IPv6 based resources. Many operating systems and devices ship with IPv6
support enabled by default. To perform scans against IPv6 resources, at least one IPv6 interface must
be configured on the host where Nessus is installed, and Nessus must be on an IPv6 capable network
(Nessus cannot scan IPv6 resources over IPv4, but it can enumerate IPv6 interfaces via credentialed
scans over IPv4). Both full and compressed IPv6 notation is supported when initiating scans.

Scanning IPv6 Global Unicast IP address ranges is not supported unless the IPs are entered separately
(i.e., list format). Nessus does not support ranges expressed as hyphenated ranges or CIDR addresses.
Nessus supports Link-local ranges with the link6 directive as the scan target or local link with eth0.

If your virtual machine uses Network Address Translation (NAT) to reach the network, many of Nessus
vulnerability checks, host enumeration, and operating system identification are negatively affected.

Due to the large number of TCP connections generated during a scan, some anti-virus software pack-
ages may classify Nessus as a worm or a form of malware.

If your anti-virus software gives a warning, select allow to let Nessus continue scanning.

If your anti-virus package has an option to add processes to an exception list, add nessusd.exe and
nessus-service.exe.

By default, Nessus is installed and managed using HTTPS and SSL, uses port 8834. The default install-
ation of Nessus uses a self-signed SSL certificate.

During the web-based portion of the Nessus installation, the following message regarding SSL
appears:

You are likely to get a security alert from your web browser saying that the SSL cer-
tificate is invalid. You may either choose to temporarily accept the risk, or you can
obtain a valid SSL certificate from a registrar.

This information refers to a security related message you encounter when accessing the Nessus UI
(https://[server IP]:8834).

Example Security Warning

l a connection privacy problem

l an untrusted site

l an unsecure connection

Because Nessus is providing a self-signed SSL certificate, this is expected and normal behavior.

Bypassing SSL warnings
Based on the browser you are using, use the steps below to proceed to the Nessus login page.

Browser Instructions

Google Chrome Select Advanced, and then Proceed to example.com (unsafe).

Mozilla Firefox Select I Understand the Risks, and then select Add Exception.

Next select Get Certificate, and finally select Confirm Security

Exception.

Microsoft Internet Select Continue to this website (not recommended).

Explorer

This section includes information and steps required for installing Nessus and Nessus agents on all
supported operating systems.

Nessus Installation
l Install Nessus on Mac OS X

l Install Nessus on Linux

l Install Nessus on Windows

Nessus Agent Installation

l Install a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X

l Install a Nessus Agent on Linux

l Install a Nessus Agent on Windows

This section describes how to install Nessus Manager and Nessus Professional on the following oper-
ating systems:

l Linux

l Windows

l Mac OS X

Caution: If you install a Nessus Agent, Manager, or Scanner on a system with an existing Nessus Agent,
Manager, or Scanner running nessusd, the installation process will kill all other nessusd processes. You
may lose scan data as a result.

Download Nessus Manager.

For details, refer to the Product Download topic.

Use Commands to Install Nessus

From a command prompt, run the Nessus install command specific to your operating system.

Example Nessus Install Commands

Red Hat version 6

# rpm -ivh Nessus-<version number>-es6.x86_64.rpm

Debian version 6
# dpkg -i Nessus-<version number>-debian6_amd64.deb

FreeBSD version 10
# pkg add Nessus-<version number>-fbsd10-amd64.txz

Start the Nessus Daemon

From a command prompt, restart the nessusd daemon.

Example Nessus Daemon Start Commands

Red Hat, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Fedora, SUSE, FreeBSD

# service nessusd start

Debian/Kali and Ubuntu

# /etc/init.d/nessusd start

The remaining Nessus installation steps will be performed in your web browser. Configure Nessus

Download Nessus Manager

For details, refer to the Product Download topic.

Start Nessus Installation

1. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Nessus installer.

2. Next, double-click the file name to start the installation process.

Complete the Windows InstallShield Wizard

1. First, the Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen appears.
Select Next to continue.

2. On the License Agreement screen, read the terms of the Tenable, Inc. Nessus software license
and subscription agreement.

3. Select the I accept the terms of the license agreement radio button, and then select the
Next button.

4. On the Destination Folder screen, select the Next button to accept the default installation
folder. Otherwise, select the Change button to install Nessus to a different folder.

5. On the Ready to Install the Program screen, select the Install button.

The Installing Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen will be displayed and a Status indication bar will illus-
trate the installation progress. The process may take several minutes.

If presented, Install WinPcap

As part of the Nessus installation process, WinPcap needs to be installed. If WinPcap was previously
installed as part of another network application, the following steps will not appear, and you will con-
tinue with the installation of Nessus.

2. On the WinPcap License Agreement screen, read the terms of the license agreement, and
then select the I Agree button to continue.

3. On the WinPcap Installation options screen, ensure that the Automatically start the WinP-
cap driver at boot time option is checked, and then select the Install button.

4. Next, on the Completing the WinPcap Setup Wizard screen, select the Finish button.

5. Finally, the Tenable Nessus InstallShield Wizard Completed screen appears. Select the Fin-
ish button.

After the InstallShield Wizard completes, the Welcome to Nessus page loads in your default
browser.

Perform the remaining Nessus installation steps in your web browser. Configure Nessus.

Download Nessus package file

For details, refer to the Product Download topic.

Extract the Nessus files

Double-click the Nessus-<version number>.dmg file.

Start Nessus Installation

Double-click Install Nessus.pkg.

Complete the Tenable, Inc. Nessus Server Install

When the installation begins, the Install Tenable, Inc. Nessus Server screen will be displayed and
provides an interactive navigation menu.

Introduction
The Welcome to the Tenable, Inc. Nessus Server Installer window provides general information
about the Nessus installation.

1. Read the installer information.

2. To begin, select the Continue button.

License
1. On the Software License Agreement screen, read the terms of the Tenable, Inc. Nessus soft-
ware license and subscription agreement.

2. OPTIONAL: To retain a copy of the license agreement, select Print or Save.

3. Next, select the Continue button.

Installation Type
On the Standard Install on <DriveName> screen, choose one of the following options:

l Select the Change Install Location button.

l Select the Install button to continue using the default installation location.

Installation
When the Preparing for installation screen appears, you will be prompted for a username and pass-
word.

1. Enter the Name and Password of an administrator account or the root user account.

2. On the Ready to Install the Program screen, select the Install button.

Next, the Installing Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen will be displayed and a Status indication bar will
illustrate the remaining installation progress. The process may take several minutes.

Summary
When the installation is complete, you will see The installation was successful. screen.

After the installation completes, select Close.

The remaining Nessus installation steps will be performed in your web browser.
Configure Nessus

This section describes how to install a Nessus Agent on the following operating systems:

l Linux

l Windows

l Mac OS X

Once installed, Nessus Agents are linked to Nessus Manager or Tenable.io.

l Nessus Agents are not available for use with Nessus Professional.

l Nessus Agents can only be installed after the installation of Nessus Manager, but can be
linked to Tenable.io without future setup in Tenable.io.

l Nessus Agents are downloaded from the Nessus Agents Download Page.

l Before you start the Agent installation process, you will first retrieve the Nessus Agent Linking
Key from within the Nessus Manager or Tenable.io interface.

l Linked agents will automatically download plugins from the manager upon connection; this pro-
cess can take several minutes and is required before an agent will return scan results.

Retrieve Agent Linking Key from within Nessus

1. Log in to Nessus.

2. Select the button.

3. On the Scanners / Agents / Linked page, select Agent > Linked and read the on-screen mes-
sage.
Agents can be linked to this manager using the provided key with the following setup instruc-
tions. Once linked, they must be added to a group for use when configuring scans.

Also, linked agents will automatically download plugins from the manager upon connection.
Please note, this process can take several minutes and is required before an agent will return
scan results.

4. Select the setup instructions link.

The Agent Setup Instructions window appears.

6. Select the Close button.

Download the Nessus Agent

From the Nessus Agents Download Page, download the Nessus Agent specific to your operating sys-
tem.

Example Nessus Agent Package Names

Red Hat, CentOS, and Oracle Linux

NessusAgent-<version number>-es5.x86_64.rpm
NessusAgent-<version number>-es6.i386.rpm
NessusAgent-<version number>-es7.x86_64.rpm

Fedora
NessusAgent-<version number>-fc20.x86_64.rpm

Ubuntu
NessusAgent-<version number>-ubuntu1110_amd64.deb
NessusAgent-<version number>-ubuntu1110_i386.deb
NessusAgent-<version number>-ubuntu910_amd64.deb
NessusAgent-<version number>-ubuntu910_i386.deb

Note: The following steps require root privileges.

Install Nessus Agent

Using the command line interface, install the Nessus Agent.

Note: After installing a Nessus Agent, you must manually start the service using the command
/sbin/service nessusagent start.

Example Linux Install Commands

Red Hat, CentOS, and Oracle Linux

# rpm -ivh NessusAgent-<version number>-es6.i386.rpm
# rpm -ivh NessusAgent-<version number>-es5.x86_64.rpm

Fedora
# rpm -ivh NessusAgent-<version number>-fc20.x86_64.rpm

Ubuntu
# dpkg -i NessusAgent-<version number>-ubuntu1110_i386.deb

Debian
# dpkg -i NessusAgent-<version number>-debian6_amd64.deb

Link Agent to Nessus Manager

During this step, you will need the Agent Key values obtained from the Nessus UI:

Agent Key Values

Required Values

l Key

l Host

l Port

Optional Values

l Name (A name for your agent.)

l Groups (Existing agent group(s) that you want your agent to be a member of.)

If you do not specify an Agent Group during the install process, you can later add your linked
Agent to an Agent Group within the Nessus UI.

l Cloud (Specify the --cloud argument to link to Tenable.io. The --cloud argument is a
shortcut to specifying --host=cloud.tenable.com --port=443.

At the command prompt, use the following command as an example to construct the nessuscli
agent link string.

/opt/nessus_agent/sbin/nessuscli agent link

--key=00abcd00000efgh11111i0k222lmopq3333st4455u66v777777w88xy9999zabc00
--name=MyOSXAgent --groups="All" --host=yourcompany.com --port=8834

Note: If you attempt to clone an Agent and link it to Nessus Manager, a 409 error may appear. This is
because another machine has been linked with the same uuid value in the /etc/machine_id or
/etc/tenable_tag file. To resolve this issue, replace the value in the /etc/tenable_tag file with a
valid UUIDv4 value. If the /etc/machine_id file does not exist, you can delete /etc/tenable_tag to
generate a new value.

Verify Linked Agent.

1. In Nessus, select the button.

2. View Agents on the Scanners / Agents / Linked page.

Note: If information provided in your command string is incorrect, a Failed to link agent error will
be displayed.

Before You Begin

Nessus Agents can be deployed with a standard Windows service such as Active Directory (AD), Sys-
tems Management Server (SMS), or other software delivery system for MSI packages.

On Windows 7 x64 Enterprise, Windows 8 Enterprise, and Windows Server 2012, you may be required
to perform a reboot to complete installation.

Nessus Agents can be deployed and linked using the command line. For example:

msiexec /i NessusAgent-<version number>-x64.msi NESSUS_GROUPS="Agent Group

Name" NESSUS_SERVER="192.168.0.1:8834" NESSUS_KEY-
Y=00abcd00000efgh11111i0k222lmopq3333st4455u66v777777w88xy9999zabc00 /qn

Note: The NESSUS_GROUPS parameter accepts group names. Quotations are necessary only when list-
ing multiple groups, or one group with spaces in its name. See the following examples:
l GroupName
l "Group Name"
l "Group, Another Group"

The following linking parameters are also available:

l NESSUS_NAME

l NESSUS_PROXY_AGENT

l NESSUS_PROXY_PASSWORD

l NESSUS_PROXY_SERVER

l NESSUS_PROXY_USERNAME

l NESSUS_CA_PATH

Retrieve Agent Linking Key from within Nessus

2. Select the button.

Also, linked agents will automatically download plugins from the manager upon connection.
Please note, this process can take several minutes and is required before an agent will return
scan results.

4. Select the setup instructions link.

The Agent Setup Instructions window appears.

6. Select the Close button.

Download Nessus Agent

From the Nessus Agents Download Page, download the Nessus Agent specific to your operating sys-
tem.

Example: Nessus Agent package file

NessusAgent-<version number>-Win32.msi

Windows Server 7, and 8 (32-bit)

Start Nessus Agent Installation

1. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Nessus Agent installer.

2. Next, double-click the file name to start the installation process.

Complete the Windows InstallShield Wizard

1. First, the Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for Nessus Agent dialog box will appear.
Select Next to continue.

2. From the License Agreement window, read the terms of the Tenable, Inc. Nessus software
license and subscription agreement.

3. Select the I accept the terms of the license agreement radio button, and then select the
Next button.

4. On the Destination Folder screen, select the Next button to accept the default installation
folder. Otherwise, select the Change button to install Nessus in a different folder.

Note: During the next step, you will need the Agent Key values: Key, Server (host), and Groups.

5. On the Configuration Options screen, enter the Agent Key values: Key, Server (host), and
Groups, and then select Next.

Required Values

l Key

l Server (host)

Optional Value

l Groups (Existing Agent Group(s) that you want your Agent to be a member of)

If you do not specify an Agent Group during the install process, you can later add your
linked Agent to an Agent Group within the Nessus UI.

Note: Your Agent Name will be the computer name where the agent is installed.

6. On the Ready to Install the Program screen, select Install.

7. If presented with a User Account Control message, select Yes to allow the Nessus Agent to be
installed.

8. When the InstallShield Wizard Complete screen appears, select Finish.

Note: If you attempt to clone an Agent and link it to Nessus Manager, a 409 error may appear. This is
because another machine has been linked with the same uuid value in the HKLM/Soft-
ware/Tenable/TAG file. To resolve this issue, replace the value in the HKLM/Software/Tenable/TAG
file with a valid UUIDv4 value.

Verify Linked Agent

1. In Nessus, select the button .

2. View the linked agents on the Scanners / Agents / Linked page.

Retrieve Agent Linking Key

1. Log in to Nessus.

2. Select the button.

Also, linked agents will automatically download plugins from the manager upon connection.
Please note, this process can take several minutes and is required before an agent will return
scan results.

4. In the first sentence of the Scanners / Agents / Linked window, select the setup instructions
link.

6. Select the Close button.

Download Nessus Agent

From the Nessus Download Page, download the Nessus Agent specific to your operating system.

Example: Compressed Nessus Installer File

NessusAgent-<version number>.dmg

Note: The following steps require root privileges.

Install Nessus Agent

The Nessus Agent can be installed by using the GUI installation wizard or via command line.

GUI Installation:

1. Double-click the Nessus agent .dmg (Mac OS X Disk Image) file.

2. Double-click Install Nessus Agent.pkg.

3. Complete the Nessus Agent Install Wizard.

Command Line Installation:

2. Open Terminal.

3. At the command prompt, enter the following command:

# installer -pkg /<path-to>/Install Nessus Agent.pkg -target /

Link Agent Using Command Line Interface

You will need the Agent Key values obtained from the Nessus UI (Step 1): host, port, and key.

Agent Key Values

Required Values

l Key

l Host

l Port

Optional Values

l Name (A name for your agent.)

l Groups (Existing agent group(s) that you want your agent to be a member of.)

If you do not specify an Agent Group during the install process, you can later add your linked
Agent to an Agent Group within the Nessus UI.

Cloud (Specify the --cloud argument to link to Tenable.io. The --cloud argument is a
shortcut to specifying --host=cloud.tenable.com --port=443.

1. Open Terminal.

2. At the command prompt, use the following command as an example to construct your link-spe-
cific string.

Example Mac Agent Link Command:

# /Library/NessusAgent/run/sbin/nessuscli managed link

Verify Linked Agent

1. In Nessus, select the button.

2. View linked Agents on the Scanners / Agents / Linked page.

This completes the process of installing a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X.

This section included information for upgrading Nessus and Nessus Agents on all supported operating
systems.

l Nessus Upgrade

l Upgrade from Evaluation

l Mac Upgrade

l Linux Upgrade

l Windows Upgrade

l Upgrade a Nessus Agent

This section includes information for upgrading Nessus Manager and Nessus Professional.

l Upgrade from Evaluation

l Linux Upgrade

l Windows Upgrade

l Mac Upgrade

If you used an evaluation version of Nessus and are now upgrading to a full-licensed version of Nes-
sus, you simply need to add your full-version Activation Code on the Settings page of the Nessus UI.

Use a New Activation Code

1. Select the button next to the Activation Code.

2. Select the Registration type.

3. Enter the new Activation Code.

4. Select Save.

Nessus will download and install the Nessus engine and the latest Nessus plugins.

Once the download process is complete, Nessus will restart, and then prompt you to log in to Nessus
again.

Download Nessus
From the Tenable Support Portal, download the latest, full-license version of Nessus.

Use Commands to Upgrade Nessus

From a command prompt, run the Nessus upgrade command.

Example Nessus Upgrade Commands

Red Hat, CentOS, and Oracle Linux

# rpm -Uvh Nessus-<version number>-es6.i386.rpm

SUSE version 11
# rpm -Uvh Nessus-<version number>-suse11.i586.rpm

Fedora version 20
# rpm -Uvh Nessus-<version number>-fc20.x86_64.rpm

Ubuntu version 910

# dpkg -i Nessus-<version number>-ubuntu910_i386.deb

Start the Nessus Daemon

From a command prompt, restart the nessusd daemon.

Examples: Nessus Daemon Start Commands

Red Hat, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Fedora, SUSE, FreeBSD

# service nessusd start

Debian/Kali and Ubuntu

# /etc/init.d/nessusd start

This completes the process of upgrading Nessus on a Linux operating system.

Download Nessus
From the Tenable Support Portal, download the latest, full-license version of Nessus. The download
package is specific the Nessus build version, your platform, your platform version, and your CPU.

Example Nessus Installer Files

Nessus-<version number>-Win32.msi

Nessus-<version number>-x64.msi

Start Nessus Installation

1. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the Nessus installer.

2. Next, double-click the file name to start the installation process.

Complete the Windows InstallShield Wizard

1. At the Welcome to the InstallShield Wizard for Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen, select Next.

2. On the License Agreement screen, read the terms of the Tenable, Inc. Nessus software license
and subscription agreement.

3. Select the I accept the terms of the license agreement radio button, and then select the
Next button.

4. On the Destination Folder screen, select the Next button to accept the default installation
folder. Otherwise, select the Change button to install Nessus to a different folder.

5. On the Ready to Install the Program screen, select the Install button.

The Installing Tenable, Inc. Nessus screen will appear and a Status indication bar will display
the upgrade progress.

6. On the Tenable Nessus InstallShield Wizard Completed screen, select the Finish button.

Nessus will load in your default browser, where you can log in.

The process of upgrading Nessus on a Mac is the same process as a new Mac Install.

After you install Nessus Agents, Nessus Manager or Tenable.io updates the agents automatically.

In certain cases, such as airgapped or Internet restricted networks, you may want to download applic-
ation updates manually from the Tenable Support Portal.

To download agent application updates:

1. Log in to the Tenable Support Portal.

2. Click Downloads.

3. Click Nessus Agents.

The latest application update files for agents are available.

4. Click the application update file that you want to download.

The License Agreement window appears.

5. Click I Agree.

The download begins automatically.

Begin Browser Portion of the Nessus Setup

1. On the Welcome to Nessus page, select the link at the end of the Please connect via SSL
statement. You will be redirected and you will continue with the remaining installation steps.

Caution: When accessing Nessus via a web browser, you will encounter a message related to a
security certificate issue: a connection privacy problem, an untrusted site, an unsecure con-
nection, or similar security related message. This is expected and normal behavior; Nessus
provides a self-signed SSL certificate.
Refer to the Security Warnings section for steps necessary to bypass the SSL warnings.

2. Accept, then disable privacy settings.

3. On the Welcome to Nessus page, select the Continue button.

Create Nessus System Administrator Account

1. On the Initial Account Setup page, in the Username field, type the username that will be used
for this Nessus System Administrator’s account.

Note: After setup, you can create additional Nessus System Administrator accounts.

2. Next, in the Password field, type the password that will be used for this Nessus System Admin-
istrator’s account.

3. In the Confirm Password field, re-enter the Nessus System Administrator account’s password.

4. Finally, select the Continue button.

Select Nessus Registration

l Nessus (Home, Professional, or Manager)

l Link to Nessus Manager

l Link to Tenable Cloud (Tenable.io)

l Offline

This option installs a stand-alone versions of Nessus Home, Nessus Professional, or Nessus Manager.
During installation, you will be prompted to enter your Nessus Activation Code; this Activation Code
determines which product will be installed.

1. Select Nessus (Home, Professional, or Manager) from the Registration drop-down.

2. Enter your Activation Code. The Activation Code is the code you obtained from the your
license e-mail or from the Tenable Support Portal.

3. OPTIONAL: Select the Custom Settings link to manually configure Proxy and Plugin Feed set-
tings. Configuring Custom Settings allows you to override the default settings related to Nessus
plugins.

Note: You may configure Custom Host settings only, Plugin Feed settings only, or both Custom
Host and Plugin Feed settings.

a. In the Host field, type the host name or IP address of your proxy server.

b. In the Port field, type the Port Number of the proxy server.

c. In the Username field, type the name of a user account that has permissions to access and
use the proxy server.

d. In the Password, type the password of the user account that you specified in the previous
step.

e. In the Plugin Feed portion of the page, use the Custom Host field to enter the host name
or IP address of a custom plugin feed.

f. Select Save to commit your Custom Settings.

g. Finally, select the Continue button.

4. Nessus will finish the installation process; this may take several minutes.

5. Using the System Administrator account you created, Sign In to Nessus.

This option installs Nessus as a Remote (Secondary) Scanner, linked to a Nessus Manager install.

During installation, you will be prompted to enter the Nessus Manager Host, Nessus Manager Port,
and Nessus Manager Linking Key.

Tip: In Nessus Manager, the Linking Key is displayed on the Scanners / Remote / Linked page.

1. Select Link to Nessus Manager from the Registration drop-down.

2. Next, enter the Nessus Manager Host, Manager Port (Nessus is installed on Port 8834 by
default), and the Nessus Manger Linking Key.

Note: You may configure Custom Host settings only, Plugin Feed settings only, or both Custom
Host and Plugin Feed settings.

a. In the Host field, type the host name or IP address of your proxy server.

b. In the Port field, type the Port Number of the proxy server.

c. In the Username field, type the name of a user account that has permissions to access and
use the proxy server.

d. In the Password, type the password of the user account that you specified in the previous
step.

e. In the Plugin Feed portion of the page, use the Custom Host field to enter the host name
or IP address of a custom plugin feed.

g. Finally, select the Continue button.

4. Nessus will finish the installation process; this may take several minutes.

5. Using the System Administrator account you created, Sign In to Nessus.

This option installs Nessus as a remote scanner, linked to Tenable.io.

During installation, you will be prompted to enter Tenable.io Linking Key .

Tip: In Tenable.io, the Linking Key is displayed on the Scanners > Linked Scanners page.

1. Select Link to Tenable.io from the Registration drop-down.

2. Next, enter the Tenable.io Linking Key.

Nessus will finish the installation process; this may take several minutes.

3. Using the System Administrator account you created, Sign In to Nessus.

This option is used when installing Nessus, which will be managed by SecurityCenter.

A Nessus Offline registration is suitable for computers that will be running Nessus, but are not con-
nected to the Internet. To ensure that Nessus has the most up-to-date plugins, Nessus servers not con-
nected to the Internet must perform these specific steps to register Nessus.

This process requires the use of two computers: the computer where you are installing Nessus, which
is not connected to the Internet, and another computer that is connected to the Internet.

For the instructions below, we'll use computers A (offline Nessus server) and B (online computer) as
examples.

1. During the Configure Nessus, in the Registration drop-down, select Offline.

2. Once Offline is selected, the page displays a unique Challenge Code. In the example below, the
challenge code is: aaaaaa11b2222cc33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999.

This challenge code is used in the next step.

3. (Optional) Configure your Nessus setup to use Custom Settings.

Generate the License

2. In the top field, enter the challenge code that was displayed on the Nessus Product Regis-
tration screen.

Example Challenge Code: aaaaaa11b2222cc33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999

3. Next, where prompted, enter your Nessus activation code.

Example Activation Code: AB-CDE-1111-F222-3E4D-55E5-CD6F

4. Select Submit.

The Offline Update Page Details displays and includes the following elements:

l Custom URL: The custom URL displayed downloads a compressed plugins file. This file is
used by Nessus to obtain plugin information. This URL is specific to your Nessus license
and must be saved and used each time plugins need to be updated.

l License: The complete text-string starting with -----BEGIN Tenable, Inc. LICENSE-----

and ends with -----END Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- is your Nessus product license
information. Tenable uses this text-string to confirm your product license and registration.

l nessus.license file: At the bottom of the web page, there is an embedded file that
includes license text-string displayed.

Tip: This custom URL is specific to your Nessus license and must be saved and used each time
plugins need to be updated.

2. Copy the compressed TAR file to the Nessus offline (A) system.

Use the directory specific to your operating system:

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus

Copy and Paste License Text

1. While still using the computer with Internet access (B), copy complete text-string starting with --
---BEGIN Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- and ends with -----END Tenable, Inc. LICENSE-----

2. On the computer where you are installing Nessus (A), on the Nessus Product Registration
screen, paste the complete text-string starting with -----BEGIN Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- and
ends with -----END Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- .

3. Select Continue.

4. Using the System Administrator account you created during setup, Sign In to Nessus.

To manage Nessus offline, you need two computers: the Nessus server, which is not connected to the
Internet, and another computer that is connected to the Internet.

Scenario 1: New Nessus Install

You are performing a new install of Nessus, but for security purposes, the server is not connected to
the Internet. In this scenario, you will perform the complete steps to install Nessus while offline. Dur-
ing this process, Nessus plugins are downloaded and installed on the offline Nessus server.

Scenario 2: Update Nessus Licensing

You have an existing Nessus server that is offline, your license changes, and you must update Nessus
with the new license / activation code. In this case, you will perform the following operations:

1. Generate Challenge Code

2. Generate Your License

3. Download and copy the license file (nessus.license)

These instructions apply to Nessus 6.3 and newer and direct you to the following
URL: https://plugins.nessus.org/v2/offline.php .

If you are using a version of Nessus 6.2 or earlier, you must use the information and instructions
displayed on the following URL: https://plugins.nessus.org/offline.php .

4. Register Your License with Nessus

5. Download and copy plugins to Nessus

6. Update Nessus Plugins using tar.gz

Scenario 3: Update Nessus Plugins

You have an existing Nessus server that is offline and you need to update Nessus plugins. In this scen-
ario, you have already completed steps to Install Nessus Offline but you need to install the latest plu-
gins.

In this case, you will perform the following operations:

2. Download and Copy Plugins

3. Update Nessus Plugins using tar.gz

Nessus Offline Operations

For the explanation purposes, we'll use computers A (offline Nessus server) and B (online computer)
to demonstrate operations performed when managing Nessus offline.

Computer A Computer B
Operation
(Offline Nessus) (Online Computer)

Generate Challenge Code X

Generate Your License X

Download and Copy License File (nessus.license) X

Download and Copy Plugins X

Register Your License with Nessus X

Install Plugins Manually X

This process requires the use of two computers: the computer where you are installing Nessus, which
is not connected to the Internet, and another computer that is connected to the Internet.

For the instructions below, we'll use computers A (offline Nessus server) and B (online computer) as
examples.

1. During the Configure Nessus, in the Registration drop-down, select Offline.

2. Once Offline is selected, the page displays a unique Challenge Code. In the example below, the
challenge code is: aaaaaa11b2222cc33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999.

This challenge code is used in the next step.

3. (Optional) Configure your Nessus setup to use Custom Settings.

Generate the License

2. In the top field, enter the challenge code that was displayed on the Nessus Product Regis-
tration screen.

Example Challenge Code: aaaaaa11b2222cc33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999

3. Next, where prompted, enter your Nessus activation code.

Example Activation Code: AB-CDE-1111-F222-3E4D-55E5-CD6F

4. Select Submit.

The Offline Update Page Details displays and includes the following elements:

l License: The complete text-string starting with -----BEGIN Tenable, Inc. LICENSE-----

and ends with -----END Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- is your Nessus product license
information. Tenable uses this text-string to confirm your product license and registration.

l nessus.license file: At the bottom of the web page, there is an embedded file that
includes license text-string displayed.

Tip: This custom URL is specific to your Nessus license and must be saved and used each time
plugins need to be updated.

2. Copy the compressed TAR file to the Nessus offline (A) system.

Use the directory specific to your operating system:

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus

Copy and Paste License Text

1. While still using the computer with Internet access (B), copy complete text-string starting with --
---BEGIN Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- and ends with -----END Tenable, Inc. LICENSE-----

3. Select Continue.

4. Using the System Administrator account you created during setup, Sign In to Nessus.

Before performing offline update operations, you may need to generate a unique identifier on the Nes-
sus server. This identifier is called a challenge code.

Whereas an Activation Code is used when performing Nessus operations when connected to the Inter-
net, a license is used when performing offline operations; the generated Challenge Code enables you
to view and use your license for offline operations.

Steps
1. On the offline system running Nessus (A), open a command prompt.

2. Use the nessuscli fetch --challenge command specific to your operating system.

Platform Command

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --challenge

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --challenge

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli fetch --challenge

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe fetch --chal-

lenge

3. Copy the alphanumeric challenge code.

Example Challenge Code:
aaaaaa11b2222cc33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999

4. Use the copied challenge code to Generate Your License.

By default, when Nessus is installed, your license is hidden, and is automatically registered. This
license is not viewable.

However, in the event that your Nessus Server is not connected to the Internet (Offline) a license must
be generated. This license is unique to your Nessus product and cannot be shared.

Your license is a text-based file that contains a string of alphanumeric characters. The license is cre-
ated and based on your unique generated challenge code.

1. On a system with Internet access (B), navigate to the Nessus Offline Registration Page.

2. Where prompted, type in your challenge code.

Example Challenge Code: aaaaaa11b2222cc33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999

3. Next, where prompted, enter your Nessus activation code.

Example Activation Code: AB-CDE-1111-F222-3E4D-55E5-CD6F

4. Select Submit.

At the bottom of the resulting web page, there is an embedded nessus.license file that includes
the license text-string displayed.

5. Next, Download and Copy License File (nessus.license).

After you have generated your Nessus license, you now need to download and then copy the license
to the offline system (A) running Nessus.

Note: These instructions apply to Nessus 6.3 and newer and directs you to the following
URL: https://plugins.nessus.org/v2/offline.php.
If you are using a version of Nessus 6.2 or earlier, you must use the information and instructions dis-
played on the following URL: https://plugins.nessus.org/offline.php.

1. While still using the computer with Internet access (B), select the on-screen nessus.license link.
The link will download the nessus.license file.

2. Copy the nessus.license file to the offline system (A) running Nessus 6.3 and newer.

Use the directory specific to your operating system:

Platform Directory

Linux # /opt/nessus/etc/nessus/

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/etc/nessus

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/etc/nessus

Windows C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\conf

3. Next, register your license with Nessus.

In the event that you receive a new license and Activation Code, the license must be re-registered with
Nessus.

When your Nessus server is offline, you must generate a license, download the license, and then
register your license with Nessus.

Once downloaded and copied to your offline Nessus server, use the nessuscli fetch -- register
command that corresponds to your operating system.

1. On the offline system running Nessus (A), open a command prompt.

2. Use the nessuscli fetch --register-offline command specific to your operating system.

Platform Command

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register-offline /op-

t/nessus/etc/nessus/nessus.license

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register-offline

/usr/local/nessus/etc/nessus/nessus.license

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register-off-

line /Library/Nessus/run/etc/nessus/nessus.license

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe fetch --

After submitting the required information on the Offline Update Page Details, you will download the
Nessus Plugins compressed TAR file.

Download Plugins
1. Using the computer with Internet access (B), copy and save the on-screen custom URL link.

Note: This custom URL is specific to your Nessus license and must be used each time plugins
need to be downloaded and updated again.

2. Next, select the on-screen, custom URL link.

The link will download the compressed TAR file.

Copy Plugins to Nessus

3. Copy the compressed TAR file to the offline (A) system.
Use the directory specific to your operating system:

Platform Command

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus

4. Next, on the offline (A) system running Nessus, Install Plugins Manually.

If you used the steps to Download and Copy Plugins offline, your next step is to update Nessus plu-
gins using the compressed TAR file.

Once you have copied the plugins file, there are two ways to update Nessus using the compressed TAR
file.

1. Use the Manual Software Update feature in the Nessus user interface.

2. Use the command line interface and the nessuscli update command.

Option 1: Manual Software Update via the UI

1. On the offline system running Nessus (A), select the (missing or bad snippet).

2. From the side-bar menu, select Software Update.

3. Next, select the Manual Software Update button.

4. On the Manual Software Update dialog box, select Upload your own plugin archive, and
then select Continue.

5. Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the compressed TAR file.

6. Select the compressed TAR file and then select Open.

Nessus updates with the uploaded plugins.

Option 2: Update via the Command Line

1. On the offline system running Nessus (A), open a command prompt.

2. Use the nessuscli update <tar.gz filename> command specific to your operating system.

Platform Command

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz filename>

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz filename>

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz filename>

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe update <tar.gz filename>

On the offline system running Nessus (A), there are two ways to update Nessus using a .tar.gz file
downloaded from the support portal.

1. Use the Manual Software Update feature in the Nessus user interface.
or

2. Use the command line interface and the nessuscli update command.

Option 1: Manual Software Update via the UI

1. On the offline system running Nessus (A), select the (missing or bad snippet).

2. From the side-bar menu, select Software Update.

3. Next, select the Manual Software Update button.

4. On the Manual Software Update dialog box, select Upload your own plugin archive, and
then select Continue.

5. Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the compressed TAR file.

6. Select the compressed TAR file and then select Open.

Option 2: Update via the Command Line

1. On the offline system running Nessus (A), open a command prompt.

2. Use the nessuscli update <tar.gz filename> command specific to your operating system.

Platform Command

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz filename>

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz filename>

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli update <tar.gz filename>

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe update <tar.gz filename>

This section includes information for removing Nessus and Nessus Agents.

l Nessus Removal

l Uninstall Nessus on Mac OS X

l Uninstall Nessus on Linux

l Uninstall Nessus on Windows

l Nessus Agent Removal

l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X

l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Linux

l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Windows

This section includes information for uninstalling and removing Nessus.

l Uninstall Nessus on Linux

l Uninstall Nessus on Windows

l Uninstall Nessus on Mac OS X

OPTIONAL: Export your Scans and Policies

1. Go to the folder(s) where your Scans are stored.

2. Double-click the Scan to view its Dashboard.

3. In the upper right corner, select the Export button, and then choose the Nessus .db file option.

Stop Nessus Processes

1. From within Nessus, verify any running scans have completed.

2. From a command prompt, stop the nessusd daemon.

Examples: Nessus Daemon Stop Commands

Red Hat, CentOS and Oracle Linux

# /sbin/service nessusd stop

SUSE
# /etc/rc.d/nessusd stop

FreeBSD
# service nessusd stop

Debian/Kali and Ubuntu

# /etc/init.d/nessusd stop

Determine Nessus Package Name

From a command prompt, determine your package name.

Examples: Nessus Package Name Determination

Red Hat, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Fedora, SUSE, FreeBSD

# rpm -qa | grep Nessus

FreeBSD
# pkg_info | grep Nessus

Remove Nessus
1. Using the package name identified, use the remove command specific to your Linux-style oper-
ating system.

Examples: Nessus Remove Commands

Red Hat, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Fedora, SUSE,

# rpm -e <Package Name>

Debian/Kali and Ubuntu

# dpkg -r <package name>

FreeBSD
# pkg delete <package name>

2. Using the command specific to your Linux-style operating system, remove remaining files that
were not part of the original installation.

Examples: Nessus Remove Command

Linux
# rm -rf /opt/nessus

FreeBSD
# rm -rf /usr/local/nessus/bin

This completes the process of uninstalling the Nessus on the Linux operating systems.

Use Windows to Uninstall Nessus

1. Navigate to the portion of Windows that allows you to Add or Remove Programs or Uninstall
or change a program.

2. From the list of installed programs, select the Tenable Nessus product.

3. Next, select the Uninstall option.

4. Select Yes to continue, otherwise select No.

Next, Windows will remove all Nessus related files and folders.

This completes the process of uninstalling Nessus Professional or Nessus Manager on the Win-
dows operating system.

Stop Nessus
1. In System Preferences, select the Nessus button.

2. On the Nessus.Preferences screen, select the lock to make changes.

3. Next, enter your username and password.

4. Select the Stop Nessus button.

The Status becomes red and displays Stopped.

5. Finally, exit the Nessus.Preferences screen.

Remove the following Nessus directories, subdirectories, or files

/Library/Nessus
/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusd.plist
/Library/PreferencePanes/Nessus Preferences.prefPane
/Applications/Nessus

Disable the Nessus service

1. To prevent the Mac OS X from trying to start the now non-existent service, type the following
command from a command prompt.

$ sudo launchctl remove com.tenablesecurity.nessusd

2. If prompted, provide the administrator password.

Regardless of your operating system, you can remove linked Nessus Agents from within the Nessus
UI. However this will not remove Nessus Agent files and folders on the computer where the Agent was
installed.

l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Linux

l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Windows

l Uninstall a Nessus Agent on Mac OS X

Remove Linked Agents

1. In Nessus, select the button

2. Navigate to the Scanners / Agents / Linked page.

4. On the Remove Agent screen, select the Remove button, otherwise, select Cancel.

Tip: To remove (delete) multiple agents at once, use the check boxes, and then select the REMOVE but-
ton.

If you are using a Mac or Linux operating system, you can also unlink your agent from the command
line.

After unlinking your agent from the command line, the agent will automatically be removed from the
Scanners / Agents / Linked page in Nessus.

OPTIONAL: Unlink Nessus Agent

1. From the command line, type the following command.

nessuscli agent unlink

2. If prompted, provide the administrator password.

Remove Nessus Agent

1. From a command prompt, determine your package name.

Examples: Nessus Package Name Determination

Red Hat, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Fedora, SUSE, FreeBSD

# rpm -qa | grep NessusAgent

Debian/Kali and Ubuntu

# dpkg -l | grep NessusAgent

FreeBSD
# pkg_info | grep NessusAgent

2. Using the package name identified, type the remove command specific to your Linux-style oper-
ating system.

Examples: Nessus Agent Remove Commands

Red Hat, CentOS, Oracle Linux, Fedora, SUSE

# rpm -e <Agent Package Name>

Debian/Kali and Ubuntu

# dpkg -r <Agent Package Name>

FreeBSD

Remove Tenable, Inc. Nessus Agent Product

1. Navigate to the portion of Windows that allows you to Add or Remove Programs or Uninstall
or change a program.

2. From the list of installed programs, select your Tenable Nessus product.

3. Next, select the Uninstall option.

At the start of the uninstall process, a warning message is displayed.

4. Select Yes to continue, otherwise select No.

Next, Windows will remove all related Nessus files and folders.

This completes the process of uninstalling the Nessus Agent on the Windows operating system

Unlink Agent
1. From a command prompt, type the following command.

# /Library/NessusAgent/run/sbin/nessuscli agent unlink

2. If prompted, provide the administrator password.

Remove Nessus directories, sub-directories, and files

Using Finder, locate and delete the following items.

l /Library/NessusAgent

l /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent.plist

l /Library/PreferencePanes/Nessus Agent Preferences.prefPane

Disable the Nessus Agent service

This step prevents the system from attempting to start the agent service.

1. From a command prompt, type the following command.

$ sudo launchctl remove com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent

2. If prompted, provide the administrator password.

This section describes the following features in the Nessus web interface:

l Navigating Nessus

l Scans

l Policies

l User Profile

l Settings

l Templates

The top navigation bar displays links to the two main pages: Scans and Policies. You can perform all
Nessus primary tasks using these two pages. Click a page name to open the corresponding page.

Item Description

Username Toggles a box with the following options: User Profile, Help &
Support (the Tenable Support Portal), What’s New, and Sign
Out.

The button links you to the Nessus Setting pages: Scanners,

Accounts, Communication, and Advanced.

Visibility of and access to general settings and options are determ-

ined based on the User Type assigned to the logged-in user’s
Nessus Account.

Toggles the Notifications box, which displays a list of noti-

fications, successful or unsuccessful login attempts, errors, and
system information generated by Nessus.

The default Nessus landing page is the My Scans section of the Scans page.

Tip: For instructions on performing the actions available on the Scans page, see the related How To
section of this guide.

When logging into Nessus for the first time, the Scans / My Scans page will be empty and will remain
empty until a New Scan is created.

The All Scans displays all Scans within all folders.

This page displays the following elements:

l New Scan button

l Scan Folders

l Scan Trash

l All Scans Link

l Scan Names

l Scan Schedules

l Last Modified Dates

l Scan Controls

l Upon install, the Nessus interface displays 3 scan system folders, which cannot be deleted: My
Scans, Trash, and All Scans.

l Scan / All Scans displays all scans in all folders.

l When a scan is created, the default folder selected is My Scans.

l During the creation of a scan, only existing folders can be selected; scan folders cannot be cre-
ated during a scan.

l From the left navigation, hovering over a scan folder’s name allows you to Rename or Delete it.

l Deleting a scan folder with scans in it, moves the scans to the Trash folder.

l Scans in Trash folder no longer perform; however, the scan has not been deleted.

l From the Trash folder, scans can be deleted, moved to another folder, or moved to a New
Folder.

l Scans stored in the Trash folder will be automatically deleted after 30 days.

After a scan is created, and based on permissions, when a scan is selected from the Scans page, the
More button appears and the following additional options for the selected scan become available:

l Configure

l Copy to

l Launch

l Mark Unread

l Move to

Status Description

Completed This scan has finished running and is now complete.

Aborted This scan has been aborted. This status indicates the
Nessus service was stopped during a scan.

Imported This scan has been imported; it was not run using
this scanner.

Pending This is a scheduled scan or a scan that has been cre-

ated but has not run yet.

Running This scan is currently running and has not yet com-
pleted.

Resuming This scan is resuming from a stopped state.

Canceling This scan is in the process of being canceled.

Canceled This scan has been canceled.

Pausing This scan is in the process of being paused.

Paused This scan has been paused.

Stopping This scan is in the process of being stopped.

Stopped This scan is in a stopped state.

Nessus features rich, flexible, customizable reporting tools.

Using color-coded indicators along with corresponding values, you can quickly assess your scan’s data
to help you understand your organization’s health and vulnerabilities.

Navigating Scan Results

Scan reports and dashboard pages are reviewed using common interactive features.

You can:

l Hover over menu, page, or dashboard elements.

l Drill into data by clicking on line items or page elements.

l Use ascending ▲ and descending ▼ sorting controls.

l Navigate between pages using forward > or back < controls.

Steps
1. Navigate to the Scans / All Scans page.

2. Select the name of the of scan.

1. Navigate to the Scans / All Scans page.

2. Place a check box next to the name of the scan.

3. Use the More drop-down menu, and then select Configure.

Based on permissions and the scan’s actions, you can Configure the scan, search the scan’s Audit
Trail, Launch the scan, or Export the scan’s results.

Option Description

Configure Navigates you back to the scan’s configuration settings.

Audit Displays the audit trail dialogue.

Trail

l Default: This option uses the scan’s pre-configured settings.

l Custom: This options allows for Customer Scan Targets.

Export Allows you to export the scan’s result in one of four formats: Nessus (.nessus), HTML,
CSV, or Nessus DB (.db).

Nessus DB format is an encrypted, proprietary format, which exports all scan data. A
password must be created, and then used when importing the .nessus file type.

Dashboard
When a scan is configured with Dashboard > Enabled, the scan’s results page defaults to the inter-
active dashboard view.

Based on the type of scan performed and the type of data collected, the dashboard displays key values
and trending indicators.

Dashboard Details
Name Description

Current Vul- The number of vulnerabilities identified.

nerabilities

Operating Sys- The percentage of operating systems identified.

tem Com-
parison

Vulnerability The percentage of all vulnerabilities, identified by severity.

Comparison

Host Count The percentage of hosts scanned by credentialed and non-credentialed author-
Comparison ization types: without authorization, new (scan) without authorization, with
authorization, and new (scan) with authorization.

Top Vul- Top 8 vulnerabilities based on severity.

nerabilities

When a scan is configured with DashboardEnabled, the scan’s results page defaults to the interactive
dashboard view.

Dashboard View
Based on the type of scan performed and the type of data collected, the dashboard displays key values
and a trending indicator.

Dashboard Details
Name Description

Current Vul- The number of vulnerabilities identified by the scan, by severity.

nerabilities

Operating Sys- The percentage of operating systems identified by the scan.

tem Com-

Vulnerability The percentage of all vulnerabilities by the scan, identified by severity.

Comparison

Vulnerabilities Vulnerabilities found over a period of time. Note: At least 2 scans must be com-
Over Time pleted for this chart to be displayed.

Top Hosts Top 8 hosts that had the highest number of vulnerabilities found in the scan.

Top Vul- Top 8 vulnerabilities based on severity.

nerabilities

When you select a scan's name from the Scans page, you will be redirected to its results pages.

The following table lists examples of each possible scan results page:

Page Description

Dashboard If configured, the default scan results page displays the Dashboard view.

Hosts The Hosts page displays all scanned targets.

If the scan is configured for compliance scanning, the button allows you to
navigate between the Compliance and Vulnerability results.

Vulnerabilities List of identified plugin vulnerabilities, sorted by severity.

Compliance If the scan includes Compliance Checks, this list displays counts and details sor-
ted by vulnerability severity.

Remediations If the scan's results include Remediation information, this list displays all
remediation details, sorted by the number of vulnerabilities.

Notes The Notes page displays additional information about the scan and the scan’s
results.

History The History displays a listing of scans: Start Time, End Time, and the Scan
Statuses.

Nessus offers a flexible system of filters to assist in displaying specific report results. Filters can be
used to display results based on any aspect of the vulnerability findings. When multiple filters are
used, more detailed and customized report views can be created.

The first filter type is a simple text string entered into the Filter Vulnerabilities box on the upper
right. As you type, Nessus will immediately begin to filter the results based on your text and what it
matches in the titles of the findings. The second filter type is more comprehensive and allows you to
specify more details. To create this type of filter, begin by clicking on the down arrow on the right side
of the Filter Vulnerabilities box. Filters can be created from any report tab. Multiple filters can be cre-
ated with logic that allows for complex filtering.

A filter is created by selecting the plugin attribute, a filter argument, and a value to filter on. When
selecting multiple filters, specify the keyword Any or All accordingly. If All is selected, then only results
that match all filters will be displayed:

Option Description

Plugin ID Filter results if plugin ID is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain
a given string (e.g., 42111).

Plugin Filter results if Plugin Description contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g.,
Description remote).

Plugin Name Filter results if Plugin Name is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not con-
tain a given string (e.g., windows).

Plugin Fam- Filter results if Plugin Name is equal to or is not equal to one of the designated
ily Nessus plugin families. The possible matches are provided via a drop-down menu.

Plugin Out- Filter results if Plugin Description is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not
put contain a given string (e.g., PHP)

Plugin Type Filter results if Plugin Type is equal to or is not equal to one of the two types of
plugins: local or remote.

Solution Filter results if the plugin Solution contains or does not contain a given string
(e.g., upgrade).

Synopsis Filter results if the plugin Solution contains or does not contain a given string
(e.g., PHP).

Port Filter results based on if a port is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not
contain a given string (e.g., 80).

Protocol Filter results if a protocol is equal to or is not equal to a given string (e.g., http).

CWE Filter results based on Common Weakness Enumeration (CWEª) if a CVSS vector is
equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a CWE reference number
(e.g., 200).

CPE Filter results based on if the Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) is equal to, is
not equal to, contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g., Solaris).

CVSS Base Filter results based on if a CVSS base score is less than, is more than, is equal to, is
Score not equal to, contains, or does not contain a string (e.g., 5)

This filter can be used to select by risk level. The severity ratings are derived from
the associated CVSS score, where 0 is Info, less than 4 is Low, less than 7 is
Medium, less than 10 is High, and a CVSS score of 10 will be flagged Critical.

CVSS Tem- Filter results based on if a CVSS temporal score is less than, is more than, is equal
poral Score to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a string (e.g., 3.3).

CVSS Tem- Filter results based on if a CVSS temporal vector is equal to, is not equal to, con-
poral Vector tains, or does not contain a given string (e.g., E:F).

CVSS Vector Filter results based on if a CVSS vector is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or
does not contain a given string (e.g., AV:N).

Vulnerability Filter results based on if a vulnerability publication date earlier than, later than,
Publication on, not on, contains, or does not contain a string (e.g., 01/01/2012). Note: Press-
Date ing the button next to the date will bring up a calendar interface for easier date
selection.

Patch Public- Filter results based on if a vulnerability patch publication date is less than, is more
ation Date than, is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a string (e.g.,
12/01/2011).

Plugin Filter results based on if a Nessus plugin publication date is less than, is more
Publication than, is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a string (e.g.,
Date 06/03/2011).

CVE Filter results based on if a CVE reference is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or
does not contain a given string (e.g., 2011-0123).

Bugtraq ID Filter results based on if a Bugtraq ID is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does
not contain a given string (e.g., 51300).

CERT Advis- Filter results based on if a CERT Advisory ID (now called Technical Cyber Security
ory ID Alert) is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g.,
TA12-010A).

OSVDB ID Filter results based on if an Open Source Vulnerability Database (OSVDB) ID is

equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g., 78300).

Secunia ID Filter results based on if a Secunia ID is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or does
not contain a given string (e.g., 47650).

Exploit Data- Filter results based on if an Exploit Database ID (EBD-ID) reference is equal to, is
base ID not equal to, contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g., 18380).

Metasploit Filter results based on if a Metasploit name is equal to, is not equal to, contains,
Name or does not contain a given string (e.g., xslt_password_reset).

Exploited by Filter results based on if the presence of a vulnerability is exploitable by malware

Malware is equal to or is not equal to true or false.

IAVA Filter results based on if an IAVA reference is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or
does not contain a given string (e.g., 2012-A-0008).

IAVB Filter results based on if an IAVB reference is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or
does not contain a given string (e.g., 2012-A-0008).

IAVM Sever- Filter results based on the IAVM severity level (e.g., IV).
ity

IAVT Filter results based on if an IAVT reference is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or
does not contain a given string (e.g., 2012-A-0008).

See Also Filter results based on if a Nessus plugin see also reference is equal to, is not
equal to, contains, or does not contain a given string (e.g., seclists.org).

Exploits Filter results based on the vulnerability having a known public exploit.
Available

Exploitability Filter results based on if the exploitability ease is equal to or is not equal to the fol-
Ease lowing values: Exploits are available, No exploit is required, or No known exploits
are available.

Metasploit Filter results based on if the presence of a vulnerability in the Metasploit Exploit
Exploit Framework is equal to or is not equal to true or false.
Framework

CANVAS Filter results based on if the presence of an exploit in the CANVAS exploit frame-
Exploit work is equal to or is not equal to true or false.
Framework

CANVAS Filter results based on which CANVAS exploit framework package an exploit exists
Package for. Options include CANVAS, D2ExploitPack, or White_Phosphorus.

CORE Exploit Filter results based on if the presence of an exploit in the CORE exploit framework
Framework is equal to or is not equal to true or false.

Elliot Exploit Filter results based on if the presence of an exploit in the Elliot exploit framework
Framework is equal to or is not equal to true or false.

Elliot Exploit Filter results based on if an Elliot exploit is equal to, is not equal to, contains, or
Name does not contain a given string (e.g., Typo3 FD).

ExploitHub Filter results based on if the presence of an exploit on the ExploitHub web site is
equal to or is not equal to true or false.

Nessus also has the ability to take screenshots during a vulnerability scan and include them in a
report.

For example, if Nessus discovers VNC running without a password to restrict access, a screenshot will
be taken to show the session and included in the report.

You must enable this feature in the General section of a scan policy, in Scan Web Applications.

With Nessus, you can compare two scan reports against each other to display any differences. The abil-
ity to show scan differentials helps to point out how a given system or network has changed over time.
This helps in compliance analysis by showing how vulnerabilities are being remediated, if systems are
patched as new vulnerabilities are found, or how two scans may not be targeting the same hosts.

A Knowledge Base (KB) is saved with every scan performed. This is an ASCII text file containing a log of
information relevant to the scan performed and results found. A KB is often useful during cases where
you need support from Tenable, Inc., as it allows Customer Support staff to understand exactly what
Nessus did, and what information was found. You can download a KB from the Host Details section.

Only scans performed on the host will have an associated KB.

Once a scan is finished running, Nessus scan results can be exported.

Using the Export button, you can export the scan’s results in one of four formats:

l Nessus (.nessus)

l PDF

l HTML

l CSV

l Nessus DB (.db)

Nessus DB format is an encrypted, proprietary format, which exports all scan data. A password must
be created, and then used when importing the .nessus file type.

Note: If the Nessus server time zone is changed after Nessus is installed and running, the time dis-
played on HTML and PDF reports will show the accurate time of day for the (new) changed time zone,
but the time zone label will reflect the previous label of the previous time zone. To resolve this issue,
restart the Nessus service.

The Policies page displays your created policies.

Tip: For instructions on performing the actions available on the Policies page, see the related How To
section of this guide.

The following items are available on the Policies page:

l Parameters that control technical aspects of the scan such as timeouts, number of hosts, type of
port scanner, and more.

l Credentials for local scans (e.g., Windows, SSH), authenticated Oracle database scans, HTTP, FTP,
POP, IMAP, or Kerberos based authentication.

l Granular family or plugin-based scan specifications.

l Database compliance policy checks, report verbosity, service detection scan settings, Linux com-
pliance checks, and more.

l Offline configuration audits for network devices, allowing safe checking of network devices
without needing to scan the device directly.

l Windows malware scans which compare the MD5 checksums of files, both known good and mali-
cious files.

When creating a Policy, in the Policy Library, Nessus organizes policies into three categories: Scanner
Templates, Agent Templates, and User-created policies.

Templates are used to facilitate the creation of Scans and Policies.

When you first create a Scan or Policy, the Scan Templates section or Policy Templates section
appears, respectively. Templates are provided for scanners and agents. If you have created custom
policies, they appear in the User Defined tab.

Tip: You can use the search box on the top navigation bar to filter templates in the section currently in
view.

The templates that are available may vary. The Nessus interface provides brief explanations of each
template in the product. This documentation includes a comprehensive explanation of the settings
that are available for each template. Additionally, the following tables list the templates that are
available in Nessus and the settings available for those templates.

Note: If a plugin requires authentication or settings to communicate with another system, the plugin is
not available on agents. This includes, but is not limited to:
l Patch management.
l Mobile device management.
l Cloud infrastructure audit.
l Database checks that require authentication.

Scanner Templates
Template Description Settings Credentials Compliance/SCAP

Advanced Scans without any All All All

Scan recommendations.

Audit Cloud Audits the con- All Basic Set- Cloud Services AWS
Infrastructure figuration of third- tings Microsoft Azure
party cloud services.
Report: Out- Rackspace
put
Salesforce.com

Badlock Performs remote Basic: Gen- None Unix

Detection and local checks for eral, Per- Unix File Contents

CVE-2016-2118 and missions Windows

CVE-2016-0128.
Discovery: Windows File Con-
Port Scan- tents
ning

Assessment:
General, Win-
dows, Mal-
ware

All Report
groups

Advanced:
Debug Set-
tings

Bash Shell- Performs remote All Basic Set- Database None

shock Detec- and local checks for tings
tion CVE-2014-6271 and Host
CVE-2014-7169. Discovery:
Miscellaneous
Scan Type
Patch Man-
Assessment:
agement
Web Applic-
ations Plaintext
Authentication
Report: Out-
put

All Advanced
Settings

Basic Net- Performs a full sys- All Basic Set- Database None
work Scan tem scan that is suit- tings
able for any host. Host
For example, you Discovery:
Miscellaneous
could use this tem- Scan Type

plate to perform an Assessment: Patch Man-

internal vulnerability General, agement
scan on your organ- Brute Force,
ization's systems. Plaintext
Web Applic-
Authentication
ations, Win-
dows

All Report
groups

Advanced:
Scan Type

Credentialed Authenticates hosts All Basic Set- SSH None

Patch Audit and enumerates tings
missing updates. Windows
Discovery:
Scan Type

Assessment:
Brute Force,
Windows,
Malware

All Report
groups

Advanced:
Scan Type

DROWN Performs remote All Basic Set- None None

Detection checks for CVE-2016- tings
0800.
Discovery:
Scan Type

Report: Out-
put

Advanced:
General, Per-
formance,
Debug

Host Dis- Performs a simple All Basic Set- None None

covery scan to discover live tings
hosts and open
ports. Discovery:
Scan Type

Report: Out-
put

Intel Performs remote Basic: Gen- Windows

AMT Security and local checks for eral, Sched-
Bypass CVE-2017-5689.
ule,
Notifications

Discovery:
Scan Type

Report: Out-
put

All Advanced
Settings

Internal PCI Performs an internal All Basic Set- SSH None

Network Scan PCI DSS (11.2.1) vul- tings
nerability scan. Windows
Discovery:
Patch Man-
Scan Type
agement
Assessment:
General,
Brute Force,
Web Applic-

ations, Win-
dows

All Report
groups

Advanced:
Scan Type

Malware Scan Scans for malware All Basic Set- SSH None
on Windows and tings
Unix systems. Windows
Discovery:
Scan Type

Assessment:
Malware

Report: Out-
put

Advanced:
Scan Type

MDM Config Audits the con- All Basic Set- Mobile Mobile Device Man-
Audit figuration of mobile tings ager
device managers.
Report: Out-
put

Mobile Device Assesses mobile All Basic Set- Miscellaneous None

Scan devices via Microsoft tings
Exchange or an Mobile
MDM. All Report
groups

Advanced:
Debug

Offline Config Audits the con- All Basic Set- None Adtran AOS

Audit figuration of net- tings Bluecoat ProxySG

work devices.
Report: Out- Brocade Fabricos
put Check Point Gaia

Advanced: Cisco IOS

Debug
Dell Force10 FTOS

Extreme
ExtremeXOS

Fireeye

Fortigate Fortios

HP Procurve

Huawei VRP

Juniper Junos

Netapp Data Ontap

Sonicwall Sonicos

Watchguard

PCI Quarterly Performs quarterly All Basic Set- None None

External Scan external scans as tings
required by PCI.
Discovery:
Host Dis-
covery

Advanced:
Scan Type

Policy Com- Audits system con- All Basic Set- Database All
pliance Audit- figurations against a tings
ing known baseline. SSH
Discovery:
Windows
Scan Type
Miscellaneous

Report: Out- Mobile

put

Advanced:
Scan Type

SCAP and Audits systems using All Basic Set- SSH Linux (SCAP)
OVAL Audit- SCAP and OVAL tings
Windows Linux (OVAL)
ing definitions.
Discovery: Windows (SCAP)
Host Dis-
Windows (OVAL)
covery

All Report
groups

Advanced:
Scan Type

Agent Templates
Template Description Settings Credentials Compliance/SCAP

Advanced Agent Scans without any All Basic None Unix

Scan recommendations. Settings Unix File Contents

Note: When you Discovery: Windows

create an agent Port Scan-
scan using the Windows File Con-
Advanced Agent
ning
tents
Scan template,
Assessment:
you must also
select the plu- General,
gins you want to Windows,
use for the scan.
Malware

All Report
groups

Advanced:

Debug

Basic Agent Scan Scans systems con- All Basic None None
nected via Nessus Settings
Agents.
Discovery:
Port Scan-
ning

Assessment:
General,
Windows

All Report
groups

Advanced:
Debug

Malware Scan Scans for malware All Basic None None

on systems con- Settings
nected via Nessus
Agents. Discovery:
Port Scan-
ning

Assessment:
General,
Malware

All Report
groups

Advanced:
Debug

Policy Compliance Audits systems All Basic None Unix

Auditing connected via Nes- Settings Unix File Contents
sus Agents.
Discovery: Windows

Port Scan- Windows File Con-

ning tents

Report: Out-
put

Advanced:
Debug

Scan or Policy Settings are organized into collections of configuration items, specifically Basic, Dis-
covery, Assessment, Report, and Advanced settings. Each of these collections are subdivided into
further sections. For example, the Basic settings include the General, Schedule, Notifications, and
Permissions sections. Additionally, the sections may contain groups of related configuration items.
For example, the Host Discovery section contains the General Settings, Ping Methods, Fragile
Devices, Wake-on-LAN, and Network Type groups.

The following sections of the documentation are organized to reflect the interface. For example, if you
wanted to find information about the General section ( 3 in the previous image) of the Basic settings ( 2
in the previous image) that appears when you select the Settings tab ( 1 in the previous image), you
should locate the table labeled General in the Basic topic. The tables include subheadings to reflect
groups of related configuration items that appear in a particular section.

The following settings exist for each policy, though available configuration items may vary based on
the selected template:

l Basic

l Discovery

l Assessment

l Report

l Advanced

The Basic settings are used to specify certain organizational and security-related aspects of the scan
or policy, including the name of the scan, its targets, whether the scan is scheduled, and who has
access to the scan, among other settings.

Note: Configuration items that are required by a particular scan or policy are indicated in the Nessus
interface.

The Basic settings include the follow sections:

l General

l Schedule

l Notifications

l Permissions

The following tables list ,by section, all available Basic settings.

General
Default
Setting Description
Value

Name None Specifies the name of the scan or policy. This value is displayed on the
Nessus interface.

Description None Specifies a description of the scan or policy.

Folder My Specifies the folder where the scan appears after being saved.
Scans

Dashboard Enabled Determines whether the scan results page defaults to the interactive
dashboard view.

Note: This setting is available only in Nessus Manager.

Scanner Varies Specifies the scanner that performs the scan.

The default scanner varies based on the organization and user.

Targets None Specifies one or more targets to be scanned. If you select a target group
or upload a targets file, you are not required to specify additional tar-
gets.

Targets can be specified using a number of different formats.

Tip: You can force Nessus to use a given host name for a server during
a scan by using the hostname[ip] syntax (e.g., www.example.com
[192.168.1.1]).

Upload Tar- None Uploads a text file that specifies targets.

gets
The targets file must be formatted in the following manner:

l The file must be ASCII format.

l Only one target per line.

l No extra spaces should appear at the end of a line.

l No extra lines should appear following the last target.

Note: Unicode/UTF-8 encoding is not supported.

Schedule
By default, scans are not scheduled. When you first access the Schedule section, the Enable Sched-
ule setting appears, set to Off. To modify the settings listed on the following table, click the Off but-
ton. The rest of the settings appear.

Default
Setting Description
Value

Frequency Once Specifies how often the scan is launched.

l Once: Schedule the scan at a specific time.

l Daily: Schedule the scan to occur on a daily basis, at a specific time

or to repeat up to every 20 days.

l Monthly: Schedule the scan to occur every month, by time and day
or week of month, for up to 20 months.

l Yearly: Schedule the scan to occur every year, by time and day, for
up to 20 years.

Starts Varies Specifies the exact date and time when a scan launches.

The starting date defaults to the date when you are creating the scan.
The starting time is the nearest half-hour interval. For example, if you cre-
ate your scan on 10/31/2016 at 9:12 AM, the default starting date and
time is set to 10/31/2016 and 09:30.

Timezone Zulu Specifies the timezone of the value set for Starts.

Repeat Varies Specifies the interval at which a scan is relaunched. The default value of
Every this item varies based on the frequency you choose.

Repeat Varies Specifies what day of the week a scan repeats. This item appears only if
On you specify Weekly for Frequency.

The value for Repeat On defaults to the day of the week on which you
create the scan.

Repeat By Day of Specifies when a monthly scan is relaunched. This item appears only if
the you specify Monthly for Frequency.
Month

Summary N/A Provides a summary of the schedule for your scan based on the values
you have specified for the available settings.

Notifications
Default
Setting Description
Value

Email None Specifies zero or more email addresses, separated by commas, that are
Recipient alerted when a scan completes and the results are available.
(s)

Permissions
Using settings in the Permissions section, you can assign various permissions to groups and indi-
vidual users. When you assign a permission to a group, that permission applies to all users within the
group. The following table describes the permissions that can be assigned.

Permission Description

No Access Groups and users set to No Access cannot interact with the scan in any way. When
you create a scan or policy, by default no other users or groups have access to it.

Can View Groups and users set to Can View can view the results of the scan.

Can Control Groups and users set to Can Control can launch, pause, and stop a scan, as well as
view its results.

Can Con- Groups and users set to Can Configure can modify the configuration of the scan in
figure addition to all other permissions.

The Discovery settings relate to discovery and port scanning, including port ranges and methods.

Note: Configuration items that are required by a particular scan or policy are indicated in the Nessus
interface.

The Discovery settings include the following sections:

l Host Discovery

l Port Scanning

l Service Discovery

The following tables list by section all available settings. When you select any template other than
Advanced Network Scan, the Scan Type setting also appears.

Scan Type
The Scan Type setting appears for all templates that have Discovery settings, except Advanced Net-
work Scan. The options that are available for the Scan Type setting vary from template to template.
The following table describes the options that are available per template. If a template is not listed in
the table, no Discovery settings are available for that template.

The Nessus interface provides descriptions of each option.

Note: When Custom is selected, the following sections appear: Host Discovery, Port Scanning, and
Service Discovery.

Template Available Options

Badlock Detection Four options are available:

Bash Shellshock Detection l Quick

DROWN Detection l Normal (default)

l Thorough

l Custom

Basic Web App Scan l Port scan (common ports) (default)

Credentialed Patch Audit l Port scan (all ports)
Internal PCI Network Scan l Custom

Host Discovery Five options are available:

l Host enumeration (default)

l OS Identification

l Port scan (common ports)

l Port scan (all ports)

l Custom

Malware Scan Three options are available:

l Host enumeration (default)

l Host enumeration (include fragile hosts)

l Custom

Policy Compliance Auditing Two options are available:

l Default (default)

l Custom

SCAP and OVAL Auditing Two options are available:

l Host enumeration (default)

l Custom

Host Discovery
By default, some settings in the Host Discovery section are enabled. When you first access the Host
Discovery section, the Ping the remote host item appears and is set to On.

The Host Discovery section includes the following groups of settings:

l Ping Methods

l Fragile Devices

l Wake-on-LAN

l Network Type

Default
Setting Description
Value

Ping the On This option enables Nessus to ping remote hosts on multiple ports
remote host to determine if they are alive. When set to On, General Settings
and Ping Methods appear.

Note: To scan VMware guest systems, Ping the remote host must
be set to Off.

General Settings

Use Fast Net- Disabled If a host responds to ping, Nessus attempts to avoid false positives,
work Discovery performing additional tests to verify the response did not come
from a proxy or load balancer. Fast network discovery bypasses
those additional tests.

Ping Methods

ARP Enabled Ping a host using its hardware address via Address Resolution Pro-
tocol (ARP). This only works on a local network.

TCP Enabled Ping a host using TCP.

Destination Built-In Destination ports can be configured to use specific ports for TCP
ports (TCP) ping. This specifies the list of ports that are checked via TCP ping.

ICMP Enabled Ping a host using the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP).

Assume ICMP Disabled Assume ICMP unreachable from the gateway means the host is
unreachable down When a ping is sent to a host that is down, its gateway may
from the gate- return an ICMP unreachable message. When this option is enabled,
way means the when Nessus receives an ICMP Unreachable message, it considers
host is down the targeted host dead. This is to help speed up discovery on some

Note: Some firewalls and packet filters use this same behavior for
hosts that are up, but connected to a port or protocol that is
filtered. With this option enabled, this leads to the scan con-
sidering the host is down when it is indeed up.

Maximum num- 2 Specifies the number of attempts to retry pinging the remote host.
ber of Retries

UDP Disabled Ping a host using the User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
UDP is a stateless protocol, meaning that communication is not per-
formed with handshake dialogues. UDP-based communication is
not always reliable, and because of the nature of UDP services and
screening devices, they are not always remotely detectable.

Scan Network Disabled Instructs Nessus to scan network printers.

Printers

Scan Novell Disabled Instructs Nessus to scan Novell NetWare hosts.

Netware hosts

Wake-on-LAN

List of None The Wake-on-LAN (WOL) menu controls which hosts to send WOL
MAC Addresses magic packets to before performing a scan.

Hosts that you want to start prior to scanning are provided by

uploading a text file that lists one MAC address per line.

For example:

33:24:4C:03:CC:C7
FF:5C:2C:71:57:79

Boot time wait 5 The amount of time to wait for hosts to start before performing the
(in minutes) minutes scan.

Network Type

Network Type Mixed Specifies if you are using publicly routable IPs, private non-Internet
(use RFC routable IPs, or a mix of these.
1918)
This setting has three options:

l Private LAN

l Public WAN (Internet)

The default value, Mixed, should be selected if you are using RFC
1918 addresses and have multiple routers within your network.

Port Scanning
The Port Scanning section includes settings that define how the port scanner behaves and which
ports to scan.

The Port Scanning section includes the following groups of settings:

l Ports

l Local Port Enumerators

l Network Port Scanners

Default
Setting Description
Value

Ports

Consider Disabled If a port is not scanned with a selected port scanner (for example,
Unscanned the port falls outside of the specified range), Nessus considers it
Ports as closed.
Closed

Port Scan Default Two keywords can be typed into the Port scan range box.
Range
l default instructs Nessus to scan approximately 4,790 com-
monly used ports. The list of ports can be found in the nessus-
services file.

l all instructs Nessus to scan all 65,536 ports, including port 0.

Additionally, you can type a custom range of ports by using a

comma-delimited list of ports or port ranges. For example,
21,23,25,80,110 or 1-1024,8080,9000-9200. If you wanted to

scan all ports excluding port 0, you would type 1-65535.

The custom range specified for a port scan is applied to the pro-
tocols you have selected in the Network Port Scanners group of
settings.

If scanning both TCP and UDP, you can specify a split range specific
to each protocol. For example, if you want to scan a different range
of ports for TCP and UDP in the same policy, you would type T:1-
1024,U:300-500.

You can also specify a set of ports to scan for both protocols, as well
as individual ranges for each separate protocol. For example, 1-
1024,T:1024-65535,U:1025.

Local Port Enumerators

SSH (net- Enabled This option uses netstat to check for open ports from the local
stat) machine. It relies on the netstat command being available via an SSH
connection to the target. This scan is intended for Unix-based sys-
tems and requires authentication credentials.

WMI (net- Enabled A WMI-based scan uses netstat to determine open ports.
stat)
Note: If enabled, any custom range typed in the Port Scan Range
box is ignored.

If any port enumerator (netstat or SNMP) is successful, the port

range becomes all. Nessus still treats unscanned ports as closed if
the Consider unscanned ports as closed check box is selected.

SNMP Enabled When enabled, if the appropriate credentials are provided by the
user, Nessus can better test the remote host and produce more
detailed audit results. For example, there are many Cisco router
checks that determine the vulnerabilities present by examining the
version of the returned SNMP string. This information is necessary
for these audits.

Only run net- Enabled Rely on local port enumeration first before relying on network port
work port scans.
scanners if
local port
enumeration
failed

Verify open Disabled If a local port enumerator (e.g., WMI or netstat) finds a port, Nessus
TCP ports also verifies that it is open remotely. This helps determine if some
form of access control is being used (e.g., TCP wrappers, firewall).
found by
local port
enumerators

Network Port Scanners

TCP Disabled On some platforms (e.g., Windows and Mac OS X), enabling this scan-
ner causes Nessus to use the SYN scanner to avoid serious per-
formance issues native to those operating systems.

Override auto- Disabled When enabled, this setting overrides automatic firewall detection.
matic firewall
This setting has three options:
detection
l Use aggressive detection attempts to run plugins even if the
port appears to be closed. It is recommended that this option
not be used on a production network.

l Use soft detection disables the ability to monitor how often

resets are set and to determine if there is a limitation con-
figured by a downstream network device.

l Disable detection disables the Firewall detection feature.

This description also applies to the Override automatic firewall

detection setting that is available following SYN.

SYN Enabled Use the Nessus SYN scanner to identify open TCP ports on the target
hosts. SYN scans are generally considered to be less intrusive than

TCP scans depending on the security monitoring device, such as a

firewall or Intrusion Detection System (IDS). The scanner sends a SYN
packet to the port, waits for SYN-ACK reply, and determines the port
state based on a reply or lack of reply.

UDP Disabled This option engages Nessus built-in UDP scanner to identify open
UDP ports on the targets.

Due to the nature of the protocol, it is generally not possible for a

port scanner to tell the difference between open and filtered UDP
ports. Enabling the UDP port scanner may dramatically increase the
scan time and produce unreliable results. Consider using the netstat
or SNMP port enumeration options instead if possible.

Service Discovery
The Service Discovery section includes settings that attempt to map each open port with the service
that is running on that port.

The Service Discovery section includes the following groups of settings:

l General Settings

l Search for SSL/TLS Services

Default
Setting Description
Value

General Settings

Probe all Enabled Attempts to map each open port with the service that is running on
ports to find that port.
services
Caution: In some rare cases, probing might disrupt some services
and cause unforeseen side effects.

Search for On Controls how Nessus will test SSL-based services.

SSL based ser-

vices
Caution: Testing for SSL capability on all ports may be disruptive
for the tested host.

Search for SSL/TLS Services (enabled)

Search for Known This setting has two options:

SSL/TLS on SSL/TLS
l Known SSL/TLS ports
ports
l All ports

Identify cer- 60 Identifies SSL and TLS certificates that are within the specified num-
tificates expir- ber of days of expiring.
ing within x
days

Enumerate all True When enabled, Nessus ignores the list of ciphers advertised by
SSL ciphers SSL/TLS services and enumerates them by attempting to establish
connections using all possible ciphers.

Enable CRL False When enabled, Nessus checks that none of the identified cer-
checking (con- tificates have been revoked.
nects to Inter-
net)

The Assessment settings are used for configuring how a scan identifies vulnerabilities, as well as what
vulnerabilities are identified. This includes identifying malware, assessing the vulnerability of a system
to brute force attacks, and the susceptibility of web applications.

The Assessment settings include the following sections:

l General

l Brute Force

l SCADA

l Web Applications

l Windows

l Malware

Scan Type
The Scan Type setting contains options that vary from template to template.

The Nessus interface provides descriptions of each option. The Custom option displays different
Assessment settings depending on the selected template.

Template Available Options

Basic Network Scan Four options are available:

Basic Web App Scan l Scan for known web vulnerabilities

Internal PCI Network Scan l Scan for all web vulnerabilities (quick)

l Scan for all web vulnerabilities (complex)

l Custom

General
The General section includes the following groups of settings:

l Antivirus

l SMTP

Setting Default Value Description

Accuracy

Override Disabled In some cases, Nessus cannot remotely determine whether a flaw
normal is present or not. If report paranoia is set to Show potential
Accuracy false alarms then a flaw will be reported every time, even when
there is a doubt about the remote host being affected. Conversely,
a paranoia setting of Avoid potential false alarms will cause Nes-
sus to not report any flaw whenever there is a hint of uncertainty
about the remote host. Not enabling Override normal accuracy is a
middle ground between these two settings.

Perform Disabled Causes various plugins to work harder. For example, when looking
thorough through SMB file shares, a plugin can analyze 3 directory levels
tests deep instead of 1. This could cause much more network traffic and
(may dis- analysis in some cases. By being more thorough, the scan is more
rupt your intrusive and is more likely to disrupt the network, while poten-
network tially providing better audit results.
or impact
scan
speed)

Antivirus

Antivirus 0 Configure the delay of the Antivirus software check for a set num-
definition ber of days (0-7). The Antivirus Software Check menu allows you to
grace direct Nessus to allow for a specific grace time in reporting when
period antivirus signatures are considered out of date. By default, Nessus
(in days) considers signatures out of date regardless of how long ago an
update was available (e.g., a few hours ago). This can be con-
figured to allow for up to 7 days before reporting them out of date.

SMTP

Third Nessus attempts to send spam through each SMTP device to the address listed in this

From The test messages sent to the SMTP server(s) appear as if they originated from the
address address specified in this field.

To Nessus attempts to send messages addressed to the mail recipient listed in this field.
address The postmaster address is the default value since it is a valid address on most mail
servers.

Brute Force
The Brute Force section includes the following groups of settings:

l General Settings

l Oracle Database

l Hydra

Default
Setting Description
Value

General Settings

Only use Enabled In some cases, Nessus can test default accounts and known default
credentials passwords. This can cause the account to be locked out if too many
provided consecutive invalid attempts trigger security protocols on the oper-
by the user ating system or application. By default, this setting is enabled to pre-
vent Nessus from performing these tests.

Oracle Database

Test Disabled Test for known default accounts in Oracle software.

default
accounts
(slow)

Hydra

Hydra options only appear when Hydra is installed on the same computer as the scanner or agent
executing the scan.

Logins file A file that contains user names that Hydra uses during the scan.

Passwords A file that contains passwords for user accounts that Hydra uses dur-
file ing the scan.

Number of 16 The number of simultaneous Hydra tests that you want to execute. By
parallel default, this value is 16.
tasks

Timeout (in 30 The number of seconds per log on attempt.

seconds)

Try empty Enabled If enabled, Hydra tries user names without using a password.
passwords

Try login as Enabled If enabled, Hydra tries a user name as the corresponding password.
password

Stop brute Disabled If enabled, Hydra stops brute forcing user accounts after the first time
forcing an account is successfully accessed.
after the
first suc-
cess

Add Enabled If disabled, only the user names specified in the logins file are used for
accounts the scan. Otherwise, additional user names discovered by other plu-
found by gins are added to the logins file and used for the scan.
other plu-
gins to the
login file

PostgreSQL The database that you want Hydra to test.

database
name

SAP R/3 Cli- The ID of the SAP R/3 client that you want Hydra to test.
ent ID (0 -
99)

Interpret Disabled If enabled, Hydra will interpret passwords as NTLM hashes.

passwords
as NTLM
hashes

Cisco login This password is used to log in to a Cisco system before brute forcing
password enable passwords. If no password is provided here, Hydra attempts to
log in using credentials that were successfully brute forced earlier in
the scan.

Web page Enter a web page that is protected by HTTP basic or digest authen-
to brute tication. If a web page is not provided here, Hydra attempts to brute
force force a page discovered by the Nessus web crawler that requires HTTP
authentication.

HTTP proxy If Hydra successfully brute forces an HTTP proxy, it attempts to access
test web- the website provided here via the brute forced proxy.
site

LDAP DN The LDAP Distinguish Name scope that Hydra authenticates against.

SCADA
Default
Setting Description
Value

Modbus/TCP Coil Modbus uses a function code of 1 to read coils in a Modbus slave. Coils rep-
Access resent binary output settings and are typically mapped to actuators. The
ability to read coils may help an attacker profile a system and identify
ranges of registers to alter via a write coil message.

Start at 0 The register at which to start scanning.

End at 16 The register at which to stop scanning.

ICCP/COTP TSAP The ICCP/COTP TSAP Addressing menu determines a Connection Oriented

Addressing Weak- Transport Protocol (COTP) Transport Service Access Points (TSAP) value on
ness an ICCP server by trying possible values.

Start 8 Specifies the starting TSAP value to try.

COTP
TSAP

Stop 8 Specifies the ending TSAP value to try. All values between the Start and
COTP Stop values are tried.
TSAP

Web Applications
By default, web applications are not scanned. When you first access the Web Application section, the
Scan Web Applications setting appears and is set to Off. To modify the Web Application settings lis-
ted on the following table, click the Off button. The rest of the settings appear.

The Web Applications section includes the following groups of settings:

l General Settings

l Web Crawler

l Application Test Settings

Setting Default Value Description

General Settings

Use the Disabled This option enables Nessus to take screenshots to

cloud to better demonstrate some findings. This includes
take screen- some services (e.g., VNC, RDP) as well as con-
shots of figuration specific options (e.g., web server dir-
public web- ectory indexing). The feature only works for

servers Internet-facing hosts, as the screenshots are gen-

erated on a managed server and sent to the Nessus
scanner.

Screenshots are not exported with a Nessus scan

report.

Use a cus- Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; Specifies which type of web browser Nessus imper-
tom User- MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; sonates while scanning.
Agent Trident/4.0)

Web Crawler

Start crawl- / The URL of the first page that is tested. If multiple
ing from pages are required, use a colon delimiter to sep-
arate them (e.g., /:/php4:/base).

Excluded /server_privileges\.php <> Specifies portions of the web site to exclude from
pages log out being crawled. For example, to exclude the /manual
(regex) directory and all Perl CGI, set this field to:
(^/manual) <> (\.pl(\?.*)?$).

Nessus supports POSIX regular expressions for

string matching and handling, as well as Perl-com-
patible regular expressions (PCRE).

Maximum 1000 The maximum number of pages to crawl.

pages to
crawl

Maximum 6 Limit the number of links Nessus follows for each

depth to start page.
crawl

Follow Disabled If selected, Nessus follows dynamic links and may

dynamic exceed the parameters set above.
pages

Application Test Settings

Enable gen- Disabled Enables the options listed below.

eric web
application
testss

Abort web Disabled If Nessus cannot log in to the target via HTTP, then
application do not run any web application tests.
tests if
HTTP login
fails

Try all HTTP Disabled This option instructs Nessus to also use POST
methods requests for enhanced web form testing. By default,
the web application tests only use GET requests,
unless this option is enabled. Generally, more com-
plex applications use the POST method when a user
submits data to the application. This setting
provides more thorough testing, but may con-
siderably increase the time required. When selected,
Nessus tests each script or variable with both GET
and POST requests. This setting provides more thor-
ough testing, but may considerably increase the
time required.

Attempt Disabled When performing web application tests, attempt to

HTTP Para- bypass filtering mechanisms by injecting content
meter Pol- into a variable while also supplying the same vari-
lution able with valid content. For example, a normal SQL
injecton test may look like /target.cgi?a='&b=2. With
HTTP Parameter Pollution (HPP) enabled, the
request may look like /target.cgi?a='&a=1&b=2.

Test embed- Disabled Embedded web servers are often static and contain
ded web no customizable CGI scripts. In addition, embedded
servers web servers may be prone to crash or become non-
responsive when scanned. Tenable recommends
scanning embedded web servers separately from
other web servers using this option.

Test more Disabled This setting manages the combination of argument

than one values used in the HTTP requests. The default,
parameter without checking this option, is testing one para-
at a time meter at a time with an attack string, without trying
per form non-attack variations for additional parameters. For
example, Nessus would attempt
/test.php?arg1=XSS&b=1&c=1, where b and c
allow other values, without testing each com-
bination. This is the quickest method of testing with
the smallest result set generated.

This setting has four options:

l Test random pairs of parameters: This

form of testing randomly checks a com-
bination of random pairs of parameters. This
is the fastest way to test multiple parameters.

l Test all pairs of parameters (slow): This

form of testing is slightly slower but more effi-
cient than the one value test. While testing
multiple parameters, it tests an attack string,
variations for a single variable and then use
the first value for all other variables. For
example, Nessus would attempt /test.php?a-
a=XSS&b=1&c=1&d=1 and then cycle through
the variables so that one is given the attack
string, one is cycled through all possible val-
ues (as discovered during the mirror process)
and any other variables are given the first
value. In this case, Nessus would never test for
/test.php?a=XSS&b=3&c=3&d=3 when the first
value of each variable is 1.

l Test random combinations of three or

more parameters (slower): This form of test-
ing randomly checks a combination of three
or more parameters. This is more thorough

than testing only pairs of parameters. Increas-

ing the amount of combinations by three or
more increases the web application test time.

l Test all combinations of parameters (slow-

est): This method of testing checks all pos-
sible combinations of attack strings with valid
input to variables. Where All-pairs testing
seeks to create a smaller data set as a tradeoff
for speed, all combinations makes no com-
promise on time and uses a complete data set
of tests. This testing method may take a long
time to complete.

Do not stop Disabled This setting determines when a new flaw is targeted.
after first This applies at the script level. Finding an XSS flaw
flaw is does not disable searching for SQL injection or
found per header injection, but unless otherwise specified,
web page there is at most one report for each type on a given
port. Note that several flaws of the same type (e.g.,
XSS, SQLi, etc.) may be reported if they were caught
by the same attack.

This setting has three options:

l Stop after one flaw is found per web

server (fastest): As soon as a flaw is found
on a web server by a script, Nessus stops and
switches to another web server on a different
port.

l Stop after one flaw is found per para-

meter (slow): As soon as one type of flaw is
found in a parameter of a CGI (e.g., XSS), Nes-
sus switches to the next parameter of the
same CGI, the next known CGI, or to the next
port or server.

l Look for all flaws (slowest): Perform extens-

ive tests regardless of flaws found. This option
can produce a very verbose report and is not
recommend in most cases.

URL for http://rfi.nessus.org/rfi.txt During Remote File Inclusion (RFI) testing, this set-
Remote File ting specifies a file on a remote host to use for tests.
Inclusion By default, Nessus uses a safe file hosted by Ten-
able, Inc. for RFI testing. If the scanner cannot reach
the Internet, you can use an internally hosted file
for more accurate RFI testing.

Maximum 5 This option manages the amount of time in minutes

run time spent performing web application tests. This option
(min) defaults to 60 minutes and applies to all ports and
CGIs for a given website. Scanning the local network
for web sites with small applications typically com-
pletes in under an hour, however web sites with
large applications may require a higher value.

Windows
The Windows section contains the following groups of settings:

l General Settings

l Enumerate Domain Users

l Enumerate Local Users

Default
Setting Description
Value

General Settings

Request information about Enabled If enabled, domain users are queried instead of local
the SMB Domain users.

Enumerate Domain Users

End UID 1200 The end of a range of IDs where Nessus attempts to
enumerate domain users.

Enumerate Local User

Start UID 1000 The beginning of a range of IDs where Nessus

attempts to enumerate local users.

End UID 1200 The end of a range of IDs where Nessus attempts to
enumerate local users.

Malware
The Malware section contains the following groups of settings:

l General Settings

l Hash and Whitelist Files

l File System Scanning

Default
Setting Description
Value

General Settings

Disable Disabled Checking this option prevents Nessus from using the cloud to compare
DNS res- scan findings against known malware.
olution

Hash and Whitelist Files

Provide None Additional known bad MD5 hashes can be uploaded via a text file that
your own contains one MD5 hash per line. Optionally, you can include a descrip-
list of tion for a hash by adding a comma after the hash, followed by the
known description. If any matches are found when scanning a target, the
bad MD5 description appears in the scan results. Hash-delimited comments (e.g.,
hashes #) can also be used in addition to the comma-delimited ones.

Provide None Additional known good MD5 hashes can be uploaded via a text file that

Copyright 2017 - 2018 Tenable, Inc. All rights reserved. Tenable Network Security, Nessus, SecurityCenter, SecurityCenter Continuous View and Log Correlation Engine are registered trademarks of Ten-
able, Inc. Tenable, Tenable.io, Assure, and The Cyber Exposure Company are trademarks of Tenable, Inc. All other products or services are trademarks of their respective owners.
- 153 -
your own contains one MD5 hash per line. It is possible to (optionally) add a
list of description for each hash in the uploaded file. This is done by adding a
known comma after the hash, followed by the description. If any matches are
good MD5 found when scanning a target, and a description was provided for the
hashes hash, the description appears in the scan results. Standard hash-delim-
ited comments (e.g., # ) can optionally be used in addition to the
comma-delimited ones.

Hosts file None Nessus checks system hosts files for signs of a compromise (e.g., Plugin
whitelist ID 23910 titled Compromised Windows System (hosts File Check)). This
option allows you to upload a file containing a list of IPs and hostnames
to be ignored by Nessus during a scan. Include one IP and one host-
name (formatted identically to your hosts file on the target) per line in a
regular text file.

File System Scanning

Scan file Off Turning on this option allows you to scan system directories and files on
system host computers.

Caution: Enabling this setting in scans targeting 10 or more hosts could

result in performance degradation.

The Report settings include the following groups of settings:

l Processing

l Output

Default
Setting Description
Value

Processing

Override nor- Disabled This setting has two options:

mal verbosity
l I have limited disk space. Report as little information
as possible: Provides less information about plugin activity
in the report to minimize impact on disk space.

l Report as much information as possible: Provides more

information about plugin activity in the report.

Show missing Enabled If enabled, includes superseded patch information in the scan
patches that report.
have been
superseded

Hide results Enabled If enabled, the list of dependencies is not included in the report. If
from plugins ini- you want to include the list of dependencies in the report, disable
tiated as a this setting.
dependency

Output

Allow users to Enabled When enabled, allows users to delete items from the report. When
edit scan results performing a scan for regulatory compliance or other types of
audits, disable the setting to show that the scan was not tampered
with.

Designate hosts Disabled Uses the host name rather than IP address for report output.
by their DNS
name

Display hosts Disabled Reports hosts that successfully respond to a ping.

that respond to
ping

Display unreach- Disabled When enabled, hosts that did not reply to the ping request are
able hosts included in the security report as dead hosts. Do not enable this
option for large IP blocks.

The Advanced settings provide increased control over scan efficiency and the operations of a scan, as
well as the ability to enabled plugin debugging.

The Advanced Settings include the following sections:

l General Settings

l Performance

l Debug Settings

Scan Type
The Scan Type setting appears for the following templates:

l Basic Network Scan

l Basic Web App Scan

l Credentialed Patch Audit

l Internal PCI Network Scan

l Malware Scan

l PCI Quarterly External Scan

l Policy Compliance Auditing

l SCAP and OVAL Auditing

All templates that include the Scan Type setting have the same options:

l Default

l Scan low bandwidth links

l Custom

The Nessus interface provides descriptions of each option.

Note: When Custom is selected, the General section appears. The General section includes the settings
that appear on the following table.

Default
Setting Description
Value

General Settings

Enable Safe Enabled When enabled, disables all plugins that may have an adverse effect
Checks on the remote host.

Stop scan- Disabled When enabled, Nessus stops scanning if it detects that the host has
ning hosts become unresponsive. This may occur if users turn off their PCs dur-
that become ing a scan, a host has stopped responding after a denial of service
unresponsive plugin, or a security mechanism (for example, an IDS) has started to
during the block traffic to a server. Normally, continuing scans on these
scan machines sends unnecessary traffic across the network and delay the
scan.

Scan IP Disabled By default, Nessus scans a list of IP addresses in sequential order.

addresses in When enabled, Nessus will scan the list of hosts in a random order
a random across the entire target IP space. This is typically useful in helping to
order distribute the network traffic during large scans.

Create Enabled Creates a unique identifier for credentialed scans.

unique iden-
tifier on
hosts
scanned
using cre-
dentials

Performance

Slow down Disabled This enables Nessus to detect when it is sending too many packets
the scan and the network pipe is approaching capacity. If detected, Nessus will
when net- throttle the scan to accommodate and alleviate the congestion. Once
work con- the congestion has subsided, Nessus automatically attempts to use
gestion is the available space within the network pipe again.
detected

Use Linux ker- Disabled This enables Nessus to use the Linux kernel to detect when it is send-

nel con- ing too many packets and the network pipe is approaching capacity.
gestion detec- If detected, Nessus will throttle the scan to accommodate and alle-
tion viate the congestion. Once the congestion has subsided, Nessus auto-
matically attempts to use the available space within the network pipe
again.

Network 5 Specifies the time that Nessus will wait for a response from a host
timeout (in unless otherwise specified within a plugin. If you are scanning over a
seconds) slow connection, you may wish to set this to a higher number of
seconds.

Max sim- 5 Specifies the maximum number of checks a Nessus scanner will per-
ultaneous form against a single host at one time.
checks per
host

Max sim- 80 Specifies the maximum number of hosts that a Nessus scanner will
ultaneous scan at the same time.
hosts per
scan

Max number none Specifies the maximum number of established TCP sessions for a
of con- single host.
current TCP
sessions per This TCP throttling option also controls the number of packets per
host second the SYN scanner will eventually send (e.g., if this option is set
to 15, the SYN scanner will send 1500 packets per second at most).

Max number none This setting limits the maximum number of established TCP sessions
of con- for the entire scan, regardless of the number of hosts being scanned.
current TCP
For scanners installed on any Windows host, this value must be set to
sessions per
19 or less to get accurate results.
scan

Debug Settings

Enable plu- Disabled Attaches available debug logs from plugins to the vulnerability out-
gin debug- put of this scan
ging

By using Credentials, the Nessus scanner can be granted local access to scan the target system without
requiring an agent. This can facilitate scanning of a very large network to determine local exposures or
compliance violations. As noted, some steps of policy creation may be optional. Once created, the
policy will be saved with recommended settings.

Nessus leverages the ability to log into remote Unix hosts via Secure Shell (SSH); and with Windows
hosts, Nessus leverages a variety of Microsoft authentication technologies. Note that Nessus also uses
the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to make version and information queries to routers
and switches.

The Scan or Policy’s Credentials page, allows you to configure the Nessus scanner to use authen-
tication credentials during scanning. By configuring credentials, it allows Nessus to perform a wider
variety of checks that result in more accurate scan results.

Note: By default, when creating credentialed scans or polices, hosts are identified and marked with a
Tenable Asset Identifier (TAI). This globally unique identifier is written to the host's registry or file sys-
tem and subsequent scans can retrieve and use the TAI.

This option is enabled (by default) or disabled in the Advanced -> General Settings of a scan or
policy's configuration settings: Create unique identifier on hosts scanned using credentials

There are several forms of authentication supported including but not limited to databases, SSH, Win-
dows, network devices, patch management servers, and various plaintext authentication protocols. For
example,

In addition to operating system credentials, Nessus supports other forms of local authentication.

The following types of credentials are managed in the Credentials section of the scan or policy:

l Cloud Services

l Database, which includes MongoDB, Oracle, MySQL, DB2, PostgreSQL, and SQL Server

l Host, which includes Windows logins, SSH, and SNMPv3

l Miscellaneous services, which include VMware, Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV), IBM
iSeries, Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS, and directory services (ADSI and X.509)

l Mobile Device Management

l Plaintext authentication mechanisms including FTP, HTTP, POP3, and other services

Credentialed scans can perform any operation that a local user can perform. The level of scanning is
dependent on the privileges granted to the user account. The more privileges the scanner has via the
login account (e.g., root or administrator access), the more thorough the scan results.

Note: Nessus will open several concurrent authenticated connections. Ensure that the host being
audited does not have a strict account lockout policy based on concurrent sessions.

Nessus supports Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Rackspace, and Saleforce.com.

AWS
Users can select Amazon AWS from the Credentials menu and enter credentials for compliance audit-
ing an account in AWS.

Option Description

AWS Access Key IDS The AWS access key ID string.

AWS Secret Key AWS secret key that provides the authentication for AWS Access Key ID.

AWS Global Settings

Option Default Description

Regions Rest of In order for Nessus to audit an Amazon AWS account, you must define
to access the the regions you want to scan. Per Amazon policy, you will need different
World credentials to audit account configuration for the China region than you
will for the Rest of the World. Choosing the Rest of the World will
open the following choices:

l us-east-1

l us-west-1

l us-west-2

l eu-west-1

l ap-northeast-1

l ap-southeast-1

l ap-southeast-2

l sa-east-1

l us-gov-west-1

HTTPS Enabled Use HTTPS to access Amazon AWS.

Microsoft Azure
Option Description

Username Username required to log in

Password Password associated with the username

Client Id Microsoft Azure Client Id

Subscription List subscription IDs to scan, separated by a comma. If this field is blank, all sub-
IDs scriptions will be audited.

Rackspace
Option Description

Username Username required to log in

Password or API Password or API keys associated with the username

Keys

Authentication Specify Password or API-Key from the drop-down

Method

Global Settings Location of Rackspace Cloud instance.

Salesforce.com
Users can select Salesforce.com from the Credentials menu. This allows Nessus to log in to Sales-
force.com as the specified user to perform compliance audits.

Option Description

Username Username required to log in to Salesforce.com

Password Password associated with the Salesforce.com username

Nessus supports Database authentication using PostgreSQL, DB2, MySQL SQL Server, Oracle, and Mon-
goDB.

Database
Option Description

Username The username for the database.

Password The password for the supplied username.

Database Nessus supports Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, DB2, Informix/DRDA, and Post-
Type greSQL.

MongoDB
Option Description

Username The username for the database.

Password The password for the supplied username.

Database Name of the database to audit.

Port Port the database listens on.

Nessus supports the following forms of host authentication:

l SNMPv3

l Secure Shell (SSH)

l Windows

SNMPv3
Users can select SNMPv3 settings from the Credentials menu and enter credentials for scanning sys-
tems using an encrypted network management protocol.

These credentials are used to obtain local information from remote systems, including network
devices, for patch auditing or compliance checks.

There is a field for entering the SNMPv3 user name for the account that will perform the checks on the
target system, along with the SNMPv3 port, security level, authentication algorithm and password, and
privacy algorithm and password.

If Nessus is unable to determine the community string or password, it may not perform a full audit of
the service.

Option Description

Username The username for a SNMPv3 based account.

Port Direct Nessus to scan a different port if SNMP is running on a port other
than 161.

Security level Select the security level for SNMP: authentication, privacy, or both.

Authentication Select MD5 or SHA1 based on which algorithm the remote service sup-
algorithm ports.

Authentication pass- The password for the username specified.

word

Privacy algorithm The encryption algorithm to use for SNMP traffic.

Privacy password A password used to protect encrypted SNMP communication.

This mechanism encrypts the data in transit to protect it from being viewed by sniffer programs. Nes-
sus supports five types of authentication methods for use with SSH: username and password, pub-
lic/private keys, digital certificates, and Kerberos.

l Public Key

l Certificate

l CyberArk Vault

l Kerberos

l Password

l Thycotic Secret Server

Users can select SSH settings from the Credentials menu and enter credentials for scanning Unix sys-
tems.

These credentials are used to obtain local information from remote Unix systems for patch auditing or
compliance checks.

Note: Non-privileged users with local access on Unix systems can determine basic security issues,
such as patch levels or entries in the /etc/passwd file. For more comprehensive information, such as
system configuration data or file permissions across the entire system, an account with root privileges
is required

Global Credential Settings

There are three settings for SSH credentials that apply to all SSH Authentication methods.

Default
Option Description
Value

known_ none If an SSH known_hosts file is available and provided as part of

hosts file the Global Settings of the scan policy in the known_hosts file field, Nes-
sus will only attempt to log into hosts in this file. This can ensure that
the same username and password you are using to audit your known
SSH servers is not used to attempt a log into a system that may not be

under your control.

Preferred 22 This option can be set to direct Nessus to connect to SSH if it is running
port on a port other than 22.

Client ver- OpenSSH_ Specifies which type of SSH client Nessus will impersonate while scan-
sion 5.0 ning.

Public Key
Public Key Encryption, also referred to as asymmetric key encryption, provides a more secure authen-
tication mechanism by the use of a public and private key pair. In asymmetric cryptography, the public
key is used to encrypt data and the private key is used to decrypt it. The use of public and private keys
is a more secure and flexible method for SSH authentication. Nessus supports both DSA and RSA key
formats.

Like Public Key Encryption, Nessus supports RSA and DSA OpenSSH certificates. Nessus also requires
the user certificate, which is signed by a Certificate Authority (CA), and the user’s private key.

Note: Nessus supports the OpenSSH SSH public key format. Formats from other SSH applications,
including PuTTY and SSH Communications Security, must be converted to OpenSSH public key format.

The most effective credentialed scans are when the supplied credentials have root privileges. Since
many sites do not permit a remote login as root, Nessus can invoke su, sudo, su+sudo, dzdo, .k5login,
or pbrun with a separate password for an account that has been set up to have su or sudo privileges.
In addition, Nessus can escalate privileges on Cisco devices by selecting Cisco ‘enable’ or .k5login for
Kerberos logins.

Note: Nessus supports the blowfish-cbc, aes-cbc, and aes-ctr cipher algorithms. Some commercial vari-
ants of SSH do not have support for the blowfish algorithm, possibly for export reasons. It is also pos-
sible to configure an SSH server to only accept certain types of encryption. Check your SSH server to
ensure the correct algorithm is supported.

Nessus encrypts all passwords stored in policies. However, the use of SSH keys for authentication
rather than SSH passwords is recommended. This helps ensure that the same username and password
you are using to audit your known SSH servers is not used to attempt a log in to a system that may not
be under your control.

If an account other than root must be used for privilege escalation, it can be specified under the Escal-
ation account with the Escalation password.

Option Description

Username Username of the account which is being used for authentication on the
host system.

Private Key RSA or DSA Open SSH key file of the user.

Private key pass- Passphrase of the Private Key.

phrase

Elevate privileges Allows for increasing privileges once authenticated.

with

Certificate
Option Description

Username Username of the account which is being used for authentication on the
host system.

User Certificate RSA or DSA Open SSH certificate file of the user.

Private Key RSA or DSA Open SSH key file of the user.

Private key pass- Passphrase of the Private Key.

phrase

Elevate privileges Allows for increasing privileges once authenticated.

with

CyberArk Vault
CyberArk is a popular enterprise password vault that helps you manage privileged credentials. Nessus
can get credentials from CyberArk to use in a scan.

Username The target system’s username.

Domain This is an optional field if the above username is part of a domain.

Central The CyberArk Central Credential Provider IP/DNS address.

Credential
Provider
Host

Central The port the CyberArk Central Credential Provider is listening on.
Credential
Provider
Port

Vault User- If the CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to use basic authentication
name you can fill in this field for authentication.
(optional)

Vault Pass- If the CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to use basic authentication
word you can fill in this field for authentication.
(optional)

Safe The safe on the CyberArk Central Credential Provider server that contained the
authentication information you would like to retrieve.

AppId The AppId that has been allocated permissions on the CyberArk Central Credential
Provider to retrieve the target password.

Folder The folder on the CyberArk Central Credential Provider server that contains the
authentication information you would like to retrieve.

PolicyId The PolicyID assigned to the credentials you would like to retrieve from the Cyber-
Ark Central Credential Provider.

Use SSL If CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to support SSL through IIS
check for secure communication.

Verify SSL If CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to support SSL through IIS and
Certificate you want to validate the certificate check this. Refer to the custom_CA.inc doc-
umentation for how to use self-signed certificates.

Kerberos

Copyright 2017 - 2018 Tenable, Inc. All rights reserved. Tenable Network Security, Nessus, SecurityCenter, SecurityCenter Continuous View and Log Correlation Engine are registered trademarks of Ten-
able, Inc. Tenable, Tenable.io, Assure, and The Cyber Exposure Company are trademarks of Tenable, Inc. All other products or services are trademarks of their respective owners.
- 169 -
Kerberos, developed by MIT’s Project Athena, is a client/server application that uses a symmetric key
encryption protocol. In symmetric encryption, the key used to encrypt the data is the same as the key
used to decrypt the data. Organizations deploy a KDC (Key Distribution Center) that contains all users
and services that require Kerberos authentication. Users authenticate to Kerberos by requesting a TGT
(Ticket Granting Ticket). Once a user is granted a TGT, it can be used to request service tickets from the
KDC to be able to utilize other Kerberos based services. Kerberos uses the CBC (Cipher Block Chain)
DES encryption protocol to encrypt all communications.

Note: You must already have a Kerberos environment established to use this method of authentication.

The Nessus implementation of Unix-based Kerberos authentication for SSH supports the aes-cbc and
aes-ctr encryption algorithms. An overview of how Nessus interacts with Kerberos is as follows:

l End-user gives the IP of the KDC

l nessusd asks sshd if it supports Kerberos authentication

l sshd says yes

l nessusd requests a Kerberos TGT, along with login and password

l Kerberos sends a ticket back to nessusd

l nessusd gives the ticket to sshd

l nessusd is logged in

In both Windows and SSH credentials settings, you can specify credentials using Kerberos keys from a
remote system. Note that there are differences in the configurations for Windows and SSH.

Option Description

Username The target system’s username.

Password Password of the username specified.

Key Dis- This host supplies the session tickets for the user.
tribution
Center
(KDC)

KDC Port This option can be set to direct Nessus to connect to the KDC if it is running on a
port other than 88.

KDC Trans- The KDC uses TCP by default in Unix implementations. For UDP, change this option.

port Note that if you need to change the KDC Transport value, you may also need to
change the port as the KDC UDP uses either port 88 or 750 by default, depending
on the implementation.

Realm The Realm is the authentication domain, usually noted as the domain name of the
target (e.g., example.com).

Elevate priv- Allows for increasing privileges once authenticated.

ileges with

If Kerberos is used, sshd must be configured with Kerberos support to verify the ticket with the KDC.
Reverse DNS lookups must be properly configured for this to work. The Kerberos interaction method
must be gssapi-with-mic.

Password
Option Description

Username The target system’s username.

Password Password of the username specified.

Elevate privileges with Allows for increasing privileges once authenticated.

Thycotic Secret Server Authentication

Option Default Value

Username The username that is used to authenticate via ssh to the system.
(required)

Domain Set the domain the username is part of if using Windows credentials.

Thycotic This is the value that the secret is stored as on the Thycotic server. It is referred to
Secret Name as the “Secret Name” on the Thycotic server.
(required)

Thycotic This is used to set the transfer method, target , and target directory for the scan-
Secret ner. The value can be found in Admin->Configuration->Application Settings-
Server URL >Secret Server URL on the Thycotic server. For example consider the following
(required) address https://pw.mydomain.com/SecretServer/We will parse this to know that

Thycotic The username to authenticate to the Thycotic server.

Thycotic The password associated to the Thycotic Login Name.

Password
(required)

Thycotic This value is used in cloud instances of Thycotic to define which organization your
Organization query should hit.
(required)

Thycotic This is an optional value set if the domain value is set for the Thycotic server.
Domain
(optional)

Private Key Use key based authentication for SSH connections instead of password.
(optional)

Verify SSL Verify if the SSL Certificate on the server is signed by a trusted CA.
Certificate

Windows
The Windows credentials menu item has settings to provide Nessus with information such as SMB
account name, password, and domain name. By default, you can specify a username, password, and
domain with which to log in to Windows hosts. Additionally, Nessus supports several different types of
authentication methods for Windows-based systems:

l CyberArk

l Kerberos

l LM Hash

l NTLM Hash

l Thycotic Secret Server

Regarding the authentication methods:

l The NTLM authentication method, introduced with Windows NT, provided improved security
over Lanman authentication. The enhanced version, NTLMv2, is cryptographically more secure
than NTLM and is the default authentication method chosen by Nessus when attempting to log
into a Windows server. NTLMv2 can make use of SMB Signing.

l SMB signing is a cryptographic checksum applied to all SMB traffic to and from a Windows
server. Many system administrators enable this feature on their servers to ensure that remote
users are 100% authenticated and part of a domain. In addition, make sure you enforce a policy
that mandates the use of strong passwords that cannot be easily broken via dictionary attacks
from tools like John the Ripper and L0phtCrack. It is automatically used by Nessus if it is
required by the remote Windows server. Note that there have been many different types of
attacks against Windows security to illicit hashes from computers for re-use in attacking servers.
SMB Signing adds a layer of security to prevent these man-in-the-middle attacks.

l The SPNEGO (Simple and Protected Negotiate) protocol provides Single Sign On (SSO) capability
from a Windows client to a variety of protected resources via the users’ Windows login cre-
dentials. Nessus supports use of SPNEGO Scans and Policies: Scans 54 of 151 with either
NTLMSSP with LMv2 authentication or Kerberos and RC4 encryption. SPNEGO authentication hap-
pens through NTLM or Kerberos authentication; nothing needs to be configured in the Nessus
policy.

l If an extended security scheme (such as Kerberos or SPNEGO) is not supported or fails, Nessus
will attempt to log in via NTLMSSP/LMv2 authentication. If that fails, Nessus will then attempt to
log in using NTLM authentication.

l Nessus also supports the use of Kerberos authentication in a Windows domain. To configure
this, the IP address of the Kerberos Domain Controller (actually, the IP address of the Windows
Active Directory Server) must be provided.

Server Message Block (SMB) is a file-sharing protocol that allows computers to share information
across the network. Providing this information to Nessus will allow it to find local information from a
remote Windows host. For example, using credentials enables Nessus to determine if important secur-
ity patches have been applied. It is not necessary to modify other SMB parameters from default set-
tings.

The SMB domain field is optional and Nessus will be able to log on with domain credentials without
this field. The username, password, and optional domain refer to an account that the target machine
is aware of. For example, given a username of joesmith and a password of my4x4mpl3, a Windows
server first looks for this username in the local system’s list of users, and then determines if it is part
of a domain.

l Administrator without a password

l A random username and password to test Guest accounts

l No username or password to test null sessions

The actual domain name is only required if an account name is different on the domain from that on
the computer. It is entirely possible to have an Administrator account on a Windows server and within
the domain. In this case, to log onto the local server, the username of Administrator is used with the
password of that account. To log onto the domain, the Administrator username would also be used,
but with the domain password and the name of the domain.

When multiple SMB accounts are configured, Nessus will try to log in with the supplied credentials
sequentially. Once Nessus is able to authenticate with a set of credentials, it will check subsequent cre-
dentials supplied, but only use them if administrative privileges are granted when previous accounts
provided user access.

Some versions of Windows allow you to create a new account and designate it as an administrator.
These accounts are not always suitable for performing credentialed scans. Tenable recommends that
the original administrative account, named Administrator be used for credentialed scanning to ensure
full access is permitted. On some versions of Windows, this account may be hidden. The real admin-
istrator account can be unhidden by running a DOS prompt with administrative privileges and typing
the following command:

C:\> net user administrator /active:yes

If an SMB account is created with limited administrator privileges, Nessus can easily and securely scan
multiple domains. Tenable recommends that network administrators consider creating specific
domain accounts to facilitate testing. Nessus includes a variety of security checks for Windows Vista,
Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Win-
dows Server 2012 R2 that are more accurate if a domain account is provided. Nessus does attempt to
try several checks in most cases if no account is provided.

Note: The Windows Remote Registry service allows remote computers with credentials to access the
registry of the computer being audited. If the service is not running, reading keys and values from the
registry will not be possible, even with full credentials. This service must be started for a Nessus cre-
dentialed scan to fully audit a system using credentials.
For more information, see the Tenable, Inc. blog post Dynamic Remote Registry Auditing - Now you
see it, now you don’t!

Copyright 2017 - 2018 Tenable, Inc. All rights reserved. Tenable Network Security, Nessus, SecurityCenter, SecurityCenter Continuous View and Log Correlation Engine are registered trademarks of Ten-
able, Inc. Tenable, Tenable.io, Assure, and The Cyber Exposure Company are trademarks of Tenable, Inc. All other products or services are trademarks of their respective owners.
- 174 -
Credentialed scans on Windows systems require that a full administrator level account be used.
Several bulletins and software updates by Microsoft have made reading the registry to determine soft-
ware patch level unreliable without administrator privileges, but not all of them. Nessus plugins will
check that the provided credentials have full administrative access to ensure they execute properly.
For example, full administrative access is required to perform direct reading of the file system. This
allows Nessus to attach to a computer and perform direct file analysis to determine the true patch
level of the systems being evaluated.

Global Credential Settings

Option Default Description

Never send Enabled For security reasons, Windows credentials are not sent in the clear
credentials in by default.
the clear

Do not use Enabled If the Do not use NTLMv1 authentication option is disabled, then it is
NTLMv1 theoretically possible to trick Nessus into attempting to log into a
authentication Windows server with domain credentials via the NTLM version 1 pro-
tocol. This provides the remote attacker with the ability to use a
hash obtained from Nessus. This hash can be potentially cracked to
reveal a username or password. It may also be used to directly log
into other servers. Force Nessus to use NTLMv2 by enabling the Only
use NTLMv2 setting at scan time. This prevents a hostile Windows
server from using NTLM and receiving a hash. Because NTLMv1 is an
insecure protocol this option is enabled by default.

Start the Disabled This option tells Nessus to start the Remote Registry service on com-
Remote puters being scanned if it is not running. This service must be run-
Registry ser- ning in order for Nessus to execute some Windows local check
vice during plugins.
the scan

Enable admin- Disabled This option will allow Nessus to access certain registry entries that
istrative can be read with administrator privileges.
shares during
the scan

CyberArk Vault
CyberArk is a popular enterprise password vault that helps you manage privileged credentials. Nessus
can get credentials from CyberArk to use in a scan.

Username The target system’s username.

Domain This is an optional field if the above username is part of a domain.

Central Cre- The CyberArk Central Credential Provider IP/DNS address.

dential Pro-
vider Host

Central Cre- The port the CyberArk Central Credential Provider is listening on.
dential Pro-
vider Port

Vault User- If the CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to use basic authentication
name you can fill in this field for authentication.
(optional)

Valut Pass- If the CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to use basic authentication
word you can fill in this field for authentication.
(optional)

Safe The safe on the CyberArk Central Credential Provider server that contained the
authentication information you would like to retrieve.

AppId The AppId that has been allocated permissions on the CyberArk Central Credential
Provider to retrieve the target password.

Folder The folder on the CyberArk Central Credential Provider server that contains the
authentication information you would like to retrieve.

PolicyId The PolicyID assigned to the credentials you would like to retrieve from the Cyber-
Ark Central Credential Provider.

Use SSL If CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to support SSL through IIS
check for secure communication.

Verify SSL If CyberArk Central Credential Provider is configured to support SSL through IIS and
Certificate you want to validate the certificate check this. Refer to custom_CA.inc doc-
umentation for how to use self-signed certificates.

Kerberos

Password none Like with other credentials methods, this is the user password on the
target system. This is a required field.

Key Dis- none This host supplies the session tickets for the user. This is a required
tribution field.
Center
(KDC)

KDC Port 88 This option can be set to direct Nessus to connect to the KDC if it is run-
ning on a port other than 88.

KDC Trans- TCP Note that if you need to change the KDC Transport value, you may also
port need to change the port as the KDC UDP uses either port 88 or 750 by
default, depending on the implementation.

Domain none The Windows domain that the KDC administers. This is a required field.

LM Hash
Option Description

Username The target system’s username.

Hash Hash being utilized.

Domain The Windows domain of the specified user’s name.

NTLM Hash
Option Description

Username The target system’s username.

Hash Hash being utilized.

Domain The Windows domain of the specified user’s name.

Thycotic Secret Server

Option Default Value

Username The username that is used to authenticate via ssh to the system.

Domain Set the domain the username is part of if using Windows credentials.

Thycotic This is the value that the secret is stored as on the Thycotic server. It is referred to
Secret Name as the “Secret Name” on the Thycotic server.
(required)

Thycotic The username to authenticate to the Thycotic server.

Thycotic The password associated to the Thycotic Login Name.

Password
(required)

Thycotic This value is used in cloud instances of Thycotic to define which organization your
Organization query should hit.
(required)

Thycotic This is an optional value set if the domain value is set for the Thycotic server.
Domain
(optional)

Private Key Use key based authentication for SSH connections instead of password.
(optional)

Verify SSL Verify if the SSL Certificate on the server is signed by a trusted CA.
Certificate

This section includes information and settings for credentials in the Miscellaneous pages.

ADSI
ADSI requires the domain controller information, domain, and domain admin and password.

ADSI allows Nessus to query an ActiveSync server to determine if any Android or iOS-based devices are
connected. Using the credentials and server information, Nessus authenticates to the domain con-
troller (not the Exchange server) to directly query it for device information. This feature does not
require any ports be specified in the scan policy. These settings are required for mobile device scan-
ning.

Option Description

Domain Controller Name of the domain controller for ActiveSync

Domain Name of the Windows domain for ActiveSync

Domain Admin Domain admin’s username

Domain Password Domain admin’s password

Nessus supports obtaining the mobile information from Exchange Server 2010 and 2013 only; Nessus
cannot retrieve information from Exchange Server 2007.

IBM iSeries
IBM iSeries only requires an iSeries username and password.

Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS

Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS requires a PAN-OS username and password, management port number,
and you can enable HTTPS and verify the SSL certificate.

Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV)

RHEV requires username, password, and network port. Additionally, you can provide verification for
the SSL certificate.

Option Description

Username Username to login to the RHEV server. This is a required field.

Password Username to the password to login to the RHEV server. This is a required
field.

Port Port to connect to the RHEV server.

Verify SSL Cer- Verify that the SSL certificate for the RHEV server is valid.
tificate

VMware ESX SOAP API

Access to VMware servers is available through its native SOAP API. VMware ESX SOAP API allows you to
access the ESX and ESXi servers via username and password. Additionally, you have the option of not
enabling SSL certificate verification:

Option Description

Username Username to login to the ESXi server. This is a required field.

Password Username to the password to login to the ESXi server. This is a

required field.

Do not verify SSL Cer- Do not verify that the SSL certificate for the ESXi server is valid.
tificate

VMware vCenter SOAP API

VMware vCenter SOAP API allows you to access vCenter. This requires a username, password, vCenter
hostname, and vCenter port.

Additionally, you can require HTTPS and SSL certificate verification.

Credential Description

vCenter Host Name of the vCenter host. This is a required field.

vCenter Port Port to access the vCenter host.

Username Username to login to the vCenter server. This is a required field.

Password Username to the password to login to the vCenter server. This is a required
field.

HTTPS Connect to the vCenter via SSL.

Verify SSL Cer- Verify that the SSL certificate for the ESXi server is valid.
tificate

X.509
For X.509, you will need to supply the client certificate, client private key, its corresponding pass-
phrase, and the trusted Certificate Authority’s (CA) digital certificate.

AirWatch
Option Description

AirWatch Environment API URL The URL of the SOAP or REST API
(required)

Port Set to use a different port to authenticate with Airwatch

Username (required) The username to authenticate with Airwatch’s API

Password (required) The password to authenticate with Airwatch’s API

API Keys (required) The API Key for the Airwatch REST API

HTTPS Set to use HTTPS instead of HTTP

Verify SSL Certificate Verify if the SSL Certificate on the server is signed by a trus-
ted CA.

Apple Profile Manager

Option Description

Server (required) The server URL to authenticate with Apple Profile Manager

Port Set to use a different port to authenticate with Apple Profile Man-
ager

Username (required) The username to authenticate

Password (required) The password to authenticate

HTTPS Set to use HTTPS instead of HTTP

Verify SSL Certificate Verify if the SSL Certificate on the server is signed by a trusted CA.

Global Credential Settings

Force device updates Force devices to update with Apple Profile Manager immediately

Device update timeout Number of minutes to wait for devices to reconnect with Apple Pro-
(minutes) file Manager

Server (required) The server URL to authenticate with Good MDM

Port (required) Set the port to use to authenticate with Good MDM

Domain (required) The domain name for Good MDM

Username (required) The username to authenticate

Password (required) The password to authenticate

HTTPS Set to use HTTPS instead of HTTP

Verify SSL Certificate Verify if the SSL Certificate on the server is signed by a trusted CA.

MaaS360
Option Description

Username (required) The username to authenticate

Password (required) The password to authenticate

Root URL (required) The server URL to authenticate with MaaS360

Platform ID (required) The Platform ID provided for MaaS360

Billing ID (required) The Billing ID provided for MaaS360

App ID (required) The App ID provided for MaaS360

App Version (required) The App Version of MaaS360

App access key (required) The App Access Key provided for MaaS360

MobileIron
Option Description

VSP Admin Portal URL The server URL to authenticate with MobileIron
(required)

Port Set to use a different port to authenticate

Password (required) The password to authenticate

HTTPS Set to use HTTPS instead of HTTP

Verify SSL Certificate Verify if the SSL Certificate on the server is signed by a trusted
CA.

Nessus Manager can leverage credentials for the Red Hat Network Satellite, IBM TEM, Dell KACE 1000,
WSUS, and SCCM patch management systems to perform patch auditing on systems for which cre-
dentials may not be available to the Nessus scanner.

Options for these patch management systems can be found under Credentials in their respective
drop-down menus: Symantec Altiris, IBM Tivoli Endpoint Manager (BigFix), Red Hat Satellite Server,
Microsoft SCCM, Dell KACE K1000, and Microsoft WSUS.

IT administrators are expected to manage the patch monitoring software and install any agents
required by the patch management system on their systems.

Scanning With Multiple Patch Managers

If multiple sets of credentials are supplied to Nessus for patch management tools, Nessus will use all
of them. Available credentials are:

l Credentials supplied to directly authenticate to the target

l Dell KACE 1000

l IBM Tivoli Endpoint Manager

l Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)

l Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)

l Red Hat Network Satellite Server

l Symantec Altiris

If credentials are provided for a host, as well as a patch management system, or multiple patch man-
agement systems, Nessus will compare the findings between all methods and report on conflicts or
provide a satisfied finding. Using the Patch Management Windows Auditing Conflicts plugins, the patch
data differences (conflicts) between the host and a patch management system will be highlighted.

Dell KACE K1000

KACE K1000 is available from Dell to manage the distribution of updates and hotfixes for Linux, Win-
dows, and Mac OS X systems. Nessus and SecurityCenter have the ability to query KACE K1000 to verify
whether or not patches are installed on systems managed by KACE K1000 and display the patch inform-
ation through the Nessus or SecurityCenter GUI.

l The data returned to Nessus by KACE K1000 is only as current as the most recent data that the
KACE K1000 has obtained from its managed hosts.

KACE K1000 scanning is performed using four Nessus plugins.

l kace_k1000_get_computer_info.nbin (Plugin ID 76867)

l kace_k1000_get_missing_updates.nbin (Plugin ID 76868)

l kace_k1000_init_info.nbin (Plugin ID 76866)

l kace_k1000_report.nbin (Plugin ID 76869)

Credentials for the Dell KACE K1000 system must be provided for K1000 scanning to work properly.
Under the Credentials tab, select Patch Management and then Dell KACE K1000.

Option Default Description

Server none KACE K1000 IP address or system name. This is a required field.

Database 3306 Port the K1000 database is running on (typically TCP 3306).
Port

Organization ORG1 The name of the organization component for the KACE K1000 data-
Database base. This component will begin with the letters ORG and end with a
Name number that corresponds with the K1000 database username.

Database none Username required to log into the K1000 database. R1 is the default if
Username no user is defined. The username will begin with the letter R. This user-
name will end in the same number that represents the number of the
organization to scan. This is a required field

K1000 Data- none Password required to authenticate the K1000 Database Username.
base Pass- This is a required field.
word

IBM Tivoli Endpoint Manager (TEM)

Tivoli Endpoint Manager (TEM) is available from IBM to manage the distribution of updates and hot-
fixes for desktop systems. Nessus and SecurityCenter have the ability to query TEM to verify whether or
not patches are installed on systems managed by TEM and display the patch information.

l The data returned to Nessus by TEM is only as current as the most recent data that the TEM
server has obtained from its managed hosts.

TEM scanning is performed using five Nessus plugins

l Patch Management: Tivoli Endpoint Manager Compute Info Initialization (Plugin ID 62559)

l Patch Management: Missing updates from Tivoli Endpoint Manager (Plugin ID 62560)

l Patch Management: IBM Tivoli Endpoint Manager Server Settings (Plugin ID 62558)

l Patch Management: Tivoli Endpoint Manager Report (Plugin ID 62561)

l Patch Management: Tivoli Endpoint Manager Get Installed Packages (Plugin ID 65703)

Credentials for the IBM Tivoli Endpoint Manager server must be provided for TEM scanning to work
properly.

Option Default Description

Web Reports Server None Name of IBM TEM Web Reports Server

Web Reports Port none Port that the IBM TEM Web Reports Server listens

Web Reports Username none Web Reports administrative username

Web Reports Password none Web Reports administrative username’s password

HTTPS Enabled If the Web Reports service is using SSL

Verify SSL certificate Enabled Verify that the SSL certificate is valid

Package reporting is supported by RPM-based and Debian-based distributions that IBM TEM officially
supports. This includes Red Hat derivatives such as RHEL, CentOS, Scientific Linux, and Oracle Linux, as
well as Debian and Ubuntu. Other distributions may also work, but unless officially supported by TEM,
there is no support available.

For local check plugins to trigger, only RHEL, CentOS, Scientific Linux, Oracle Linux, Debian, and
Ubuntu are supported. The plugin Patch Management: Tivoli Endpoint Manager Get Installed Packages
must be enabled.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<BES xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="BES.xsd">
<Analysis>
<Title>Tenable</Title>
<Description>This analysis provides Nessus with the data it needs for vulnerability
reporting. </Description>
<Relevance>true</Relevance>
<Source>Internal</Source>
<SourceReleaseDate>2013-01-31</SourceReleaseDate>
<MIMEField>
<Name>x-fixlet-modification-time</Name>
<Value>Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:54:09 +0000</Value>
</MIMEField>
<Domain>BESC</Domain>
<Property Name="Packages - With Versions (Tenable)" ID="1"><![CDATA[if
(exists true whose (if true then (exists debianpackage) else false)) then unique
values of (name of it & "|" & version of it as string & "|" & "deb" & "|" &
architecture of it & "|" & architecture of operating system) of packages whose
(exists version of it) of debianpackages else if (exists true whose (if true then
(exists rpm) else false)) then unique values of (name of it & "|" & version of it as
string & "|" & "rpm" & "|" & architecture of it & "|" & architecture of operating
system) of packages of rpm else "<unsupported>" ]]></Property>
</Analysis>
</BES>

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) is available to manage large groups of Win-
dows-based systems. Nessus has the ability to query the SCCM service to verify whether or not patches
are installed on systems managed by SCCM and display the patch information through the Nessus or
SecurityCenter GUI.

l If the credentialed check sees a system but it is unable to authenticate against the system, it will
use the data obtained from the patch management system to perform the check. If Nessus is
able to connect to the target system, it will perform checks on that system and ignore SCCM

l The data returned by SCCM is only as current as the most recent data that the SCCM server has
obtained from its managed hosts.

l Nessus connects to the server that is running the SCCM site (e.g., credentials must be valid for
the SCCM service, meaning an admin account in SCCM with the privileges to query all the data in
the SCCM MMC). This server may also run the SQL database, or the database as well as the SCCM
repository can be on separate servers. When leveraging this audit, Nessus must connect to the
SCCM Server, not the SQL or SCCM server if they are on a separate box.

Nessus SCCM patch management plugins support SCCM 2007 and SCCM 2012.

SCCM scanning is performed using four Nessus plugins.

l Patch Management: SCCM Server Settings (Plugin ID 57029)

l Patch Management: Missing updates from SCCM(Plugin ID 57030)

l Patch Management: SCCM Computer Info Initialization(Plugin ID 73636)

l Patch Management: SCCM Report(Plugin ID 58186)

Credentials for the SCCM system must be provided for SCCM scanning to work properly. Under the Cre-
dentials tab, select Patch Management and then Microsoft SCCM.

Credential Description

Server SCCM IP address or system name

Domain The domain the SCCM server is a part of

Username SCCM admin username

Password SCCM admin password

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)

Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) is available from Microsoft to manage the distribution of
updates and hotfixes for Microsoft products. Nessus and SecurityCenter have the ability to query WSUS
to verify whether or not patches are installed on systems managed by WSUS and display the patch
information through the Nessus or SecurityCenter GUI.

l If the credential check sees a system but it is unable to authenticate against the system, it will
use the data obtained from the patch management system to perform the check. If Nessus is
able to connect to the target system, it will perform checks on that system and ignore WSUS

l The data returned to Nessus by WSUS is only as current as the most recent data that the WSUS
server has obtained from its managed hosts.

WSUS scanning is performed using three Nessus plugins.

l Patch Management: WSUS Server Settings (Plugin ID 57031)

l Patch Management: Missing updates from WSUS (Plugin ID 57032)

l Patch Management: WSUS Report (Plugin ID 58133)

Credentials for the WSUS system must be provided for WSUS scanning to work properly. Under the Cre-
dentials tab, select Patch Management and then Microsoft WSUS.

Credential Default Description

Server None WSUS IP address or system name

Port 8530 Port WSUS is running on (typically TCP 80 or 443)

Username none WSUS admin username

Password none WSUS admin password

HTTPS Enabled If the WSUS service is using SSL

Verify SSL certificate Enabled Verify that the SSL certificate is valid

Red Hat Satellite Server

Red Hat Satellite is a systems management platform for Linux-based systems. Nessus has the ability to
query Satellite to verify whether or not patches are installed on systems managed by Satellite and dis-
play the patch information.

Although not supported by Tenable, Inc., the RHN Satellite plugin will also work with Spacewalk Server,
the Open Source Upstream Version of Red Hat Satellite. Spacewalk has the capability of managing dis-
tributions based on Red Hat (RHEL, CentOS, Fedora) and SUSE. Tenable supports the Satellite server
for Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

l If the credential check sees a system, but it is unable to authenticate against the system, it will
use the data obtained from the patch management system to perform the check. If Nessus is
able to connect to the target system, it will perform checks on that system and ignore RHN Satel-
lite output.

Satellite scanning is performed using five Nessus plugins:

l Patch Management: Patch Schedule From Red Hat Satellite Server (Plugin ID 84236)

l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite Server Get Installed Packages (Plugin ID 84235)

l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite Server Get Managed Servers (Plugin ID 84234)

l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite Server Get System Information (Plugin ID 84237)

l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite Server Settings (Plugin ID 84238)

If the RHN Satellite server is version 6, three additional Nessus plugins are used:

l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite Server Get Installed Packages (Plugin ID 84231)

l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite 6 Settings (Plugin ID 84232)

l Patch Management: Red Hat Satellite 6 Report (Plugin ID 84233)

Red Hat Satellite 6 Server

Credential Default Description

Satellite server none RHN Satellite IP address or system name

Port 443 Port Satellite is running on (typically TCP 80 or 443)

Username none Red Hat Satellite username

Password none Red Hat Satellite password

HTTPS Enabled

Verify SSL Certificate Enabled Verify that the SSL certificate is valid

Symantec Altris
Altiris is available from Symantec to manage the distribution of updates and hotfixes for Linux, Win-
dows, and Mac OS X systems. Nessus and SecurityCenter have the ability to use the Altiris API to verify
whether or not patches are installed on systems managed by Altiris and display the patch information
through the Nessus or SecurityCenter GUI.

l If the credential check sees a system but it is unable to authenticate against the system, it will
use the data obtained from the patch management system to perform the check. If Nessus is

l The data returned to Nessus by Altiris is only as current as the most recent data that the Altiris
has obtained from its managed hosts.

l Nessus connects to the Microsoft SQL server that is running on the Altiris host (e.g., credentials
must be valid for the MSSQL database, meaning a database account with the privileges to query
all the data in the Altiris MSSQL database). The database server may be run on a separate host
from the Altiris deployment. When leveraging this audit, Nessus must connect to the MSSQL data-
base, not the Altiris server if they are on a separate box.

Altiris scanning is performed using four Nessus plugins.

l symantec_altiris_get_computer_info.nbin (Plugin ID 78013)

l symantec_altiris_get_missing_updates.nbin (Plugin ID 78012)

l symantec_altiris_init_info.nbin (Plugin ID 78011)

l symantec_altiris_report.nbin (Plugin ID 78014)

Credentials for the Altiris Microsoft SQL (MSSQL) database must be provided for Altiris scanning to
work properly. Under the Credentials tab, select Patch Management and then Symantec Altiris.

Credential Default Description

Server none Altiris IP address or system name. This is a required field.

Database Port 5690 Port the Altiris database is running on (Typically TCP 5690)

Database Symantec_ The name of the MSSQL database that manages Altiris patch
Name CMDB information.

Database User- None Username required to log into the Altiris MSSQL database. This is
name a required field.

Database Pass- none Password required to authenticate the Altiris MSSQL database.
word This is a required field.

Use Windows Disabled Denotes whether or not to use NTLMSSP for compatibility with
Authentication older Windows Servers, otherwise it will use Kerberos

To ensure Nessus can properly utilize Altiris to pull patch management information, it must be con-
figured to do so.

Caution: Using plaintext credentials is not recommended. Use encrypted authentication methods when
possible.

If a secure method of performing credentialed checks is not available, users can force Nessus to try to
perform checks over unsecure protocols; use the Plaintext Authentication options.

This menu allows the Nessus scanner to use credentials when testing HTTP, NNTP, FTP, POP2, POP3,
IMAP, IPMI, SNMPv1/v2c, and telnet/rsh/rexec.

By supplying credentials, Nessus may have the ability to do more extensive checks to determine vul-
nerabilities. HTTP credentials supplied will be used for Basic and Digest authentication only.

Credentials for FTP, IPMI, NNTP, POP2, and POP3 require only a username and password.

HTTP
There are four different types of HTTP Authentication methods: Automatic authentication, Basic/Digest
authentication, HTTP login form, and HTTP cookies import.

HTTP Global Settings

Option Default Description

Re-authenticate 0 The time delay between authentication attempts. This is useful to

delay (seconds) avoid triggering brute force lockout mechanisms.

Follow 30x redir- 0 If a 30x redirect code is received from a web server, this directs
ections Nessus to follow the link provided or not.
(# of levels)

Invert authen- Disabled A regex pattern to look for on the login page, that if found, tells
ticated regex Nessus authentication was not successful (e.g., Authentication
failed!).

Use authen- Disabled Rather than search the body of a response, Nessus can search
ticated regex on the HTTP response headers for a given regex pattern to better
HTTP headers determine authentication state.

Use authen- Disabled The regex searches are case sensitive by default. This instructs
ticated regex on Nessus to ignore case.
HTTP headers

Authentication methods

Automatic authentication
Username and Password Required

Basic/Digest authentication
Username and Password Required

HTTP Login Form

The HTTP login page settings provide control over where authenticated testing of a custom web-based
application begins.

Option Description

Username Login user’s name.

Password Password of the user specified.

Login sub- The action parameter for the form method. For example, the login form for
mission page <form method="POST" name="auth_form" action="/login.php"> would be /lo-
gin.php.

Login para- Specify the authentication parameters (e.g., login-

meters n=%USER%&password=%PASS%). If the keywords %USER% and %PASS% are
used, they will be substituted with values supplied on the Login configurations
drop-down menu. This field can be used to provide more than two parameters if
required (e.g., a group name or some other piece of information is required for
the authentication process).

Check authen- The absolute path of a protected web page that requires authentication, to bet-
tication on ter assist Nessus in determining authentication status, e.g., /admin.html.

page

Regex to verify A regex pattern to look for on the login page. Simply receiving a 200 response
successful code is not always sufficient to determine session state. Nessus can attempt to
authentication match a given string such as Authentication successful!

HTTP cookies import

To facilitate web application testing, Nessus can import HTTP cookies from another piece of software
(e.g., web browser, web proxy, etc.) with the HTTP cookies import settings. A cookie file can be
uploaded so that Nessus uses the cookies when attempting to access a web application. The cookie
file must be in Netscape format.

telnet/rsh/rexec
The telnet/rsh/rexec authentication section is also username and password, but there are additional
Global Settings for this section that can allow you to perform patch audits using any of these three pro-
tocols.

SNMPv1/v2c
SNMPv1/v2c configuration allows you to use community strings for authentication to network devices.
Up to 4 SNMP community strings can be configured.

Nessus can perform vulnerability scans of network services as well as log into servers to discover any
missing patches.

However, a lack of vulnerabilities does not mean the servers are configured correctly or are “com-
pliant” with a particular standard.

The advantage of using Nessus to perform vulnerability scans and compliance audits is that all of this
data can be obtained at one time. Knowing how a server is configured, how it is patched and what vul-
nerabilities are present can help determine measures to mitigate risk.

At a higher level, if this information is aggregated for an entire network or asset class, security and risk
can be analyzed globally. This allows auditors and network managers to spot trends in non-compliant
systems and adjust controls to fix these on a larger scale.

When configuring a scan or policy, you can include one or more compliance checks.

Audit Capability Required Credentials

Adtran AOS SSH

Amazon AWS Amazon AWS

Blue Coat ProxySG SSH

Brocade FabricOS SSH

Check Point GAiA SSH

Cisco IOS SSH

Citrix XenServer SSH

Database Database credentials

Dell Force10 FTOS SSH

Extreme ExtremeXOS SSH

FireEye SSH

Fortigate FortiOS SSH

HP ProCurve SSH

IBM iSeries IBM iSeries

Juniper Junos SSH

Microsoft Azure Microsoft Azure

Mobile Device Manager AirWatch/Apple Profile Manager/MobileironÂ

MongoDB MongoDB

NetApp Data ONTAP SSH

Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS PAN-OS

Rackspace Rackspace

RHEV RHEV

Salesforce.com Salesforce SOAP API

SonicWALL SonicOS SSH

Unix SSH

Unix File Contents SSH

VMware vCenter/vSphere VMware ESX SOAP API or VMware vCenter SOAP API

WatchGuard SSH

Windows Windows

Windows File Contents Windows

The Advanced Scan templates include Plugin options.

Plugins options enables you to select security checks by Plugin Family or individual plugins checks.

Clicking on the Plugin Family allows you to enable (green) or disable (gray) the entire family. Select-
ing a family will display the list of its plugins. Individual plugins can be enabled or disabled to create
very specific scans.

A family with some plugins disabled will turn blue and display Mixed to indicate only some plugins
are enabled. Clicking on the plugin family will load the complete list of plugins, and allow for granular
selection based on your scanning preferences.

Selecting a specific Plugin Name will display the plugin output that will be displayed as seen in a
report.

The plugin details include a Synopsis, Description, Solution, Plugin Information, and Risk Inform-
ation.

When a scan or policy is created and saved, it records all of the plugins that are initially selected. When
new plugins are received via a plugin update, they will automatically be enabled if the family they are
associated with is enabled. If the family has been disabled or partially enabled, new plugins in that fam-
ily will automatically be disabled as well.

Caution: The Denial of Service family contains some plugins that could cause outages on a network if
the Safe Checks option is not enabled, in addition to some useful checks that will not cause any harm.
The Denial of Service family can be used in conjunction with Safe Checks to ensure that any potentially
dangerous plugins are not run. However, it is recommended that the Denial of Service family not be
used on a production network unless scheduled during a maintenance window and with staff ready to
respond to any issues.

Compliance
Nessus compliance auditing can be configured using one or more of the following Scanner and Agent
templates.

l Audit Cloud Infrastructure

l MDM Config Audit

l Offline Config Audit

l SCAP and OVAL Auditing

l Policy Compliance Auditing

Mobile Device
With Nessus Manager, the Nessus Mobile Devices plugin family provides the ability to obtain inform-
ation from devices registered in a Mobile Device Manager (MDM) and from Active Directory servers that
contain information from Microsoft Exchange Servers.

l To query for information, the Nessus scanner must be able to reach the Mobile Device Man-
agement servers. You must ensure no screening devices block traffic to these systems from the
Nessus scanner. In addition, Nessus must be given administrative credentials (e.g., domain
administrator) to the Active Directory servers.

l To scan for mobile devices, Nessus must be configured with authentication information for the
management server and the mobile plugins. Since Nessus authenticates directly to the man-
agement servers, a scan policy does not need to be configured to scan specific hosts.

l For ActiveSync scans that access data from Microsoft Exchange servers, Nessus will retrieve
information from phones that have been updated in the last 365 days.

Payment Card Industry (PCI)

Tenable offers two Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) templates: one for
testing internal systems (11.2.1) and one for Internet facing systems (11.2.2). Also, these scan templates
may also be used to complete scans after significant changes to your network, as required by PCI DSS
11.2.3.

PCI Tenable.io The PCI Quarterly External Scan template is only available in Ten-
Quarterly Only able.io. Using this template, Tenable.io tests for all PCI DSS
External external scanning requirements, including web applications.
Scan
The scan results obtained using the PCI Quarterly External Scan
template may be submitted to Tenable, Inc. (an Approved Scanning
Vendor) for PCI validation.

Refer to the Scan Results section for details on creating, reviewing,

and submitting PCI scan results.

PCI Nessus Man- For Nessus Manager and Nessus Professional versions, Tenable
Quarterly ager provides the PCI Quarterly External Scan (Unofficial) template.
External
This template can be used to simulate an external scan (PCI DSS
Scan (Unof-
Nessus Pro- 11.2.2) to meet PCI DSS quarterly scanning requirements. However,
ficial)
fessional the scan results from the Unofficial template cannot be submitted
to Tenable, Inc. for PCI Validation.

The PCI Quarterly External Scan (Unofficial) Template performs the

identical scanning functions as the Tenable.io version of this tem-
plate.

PCI Nessus Man- The Internal PCI Network Scan template can be used to meet PCI
Quarterly ager DSS Internal scanning requirement (11.2.1).
External
Scan (Unof-
Nessus Pro-
ficial)
fessional

SCAP and OVAL

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Security Content Automation Protocol
(SCAP) is a set of policies for managing vulnerabilities and policy compliance in government agencies.
It relies on multiple open standards and policies, including OVAL, CVE, CVSS, CPE, and FDCC policies.

l SCAP compliance auditing requires sending an executable to the remote host.

l When using the SCAP and OVAL Auditing template, you can perform Linux and Windows SCAP
CHECKS to test compliance standards as specified in NIST’s Special Publication 800-126.

The User Profile page includes the following sections:

l Account Settings

l Change Password

l Plugin Rules

l API Keys

Tip: For instructions on performing the actions available on the User Profile page, see the related How
To section of this guide.

Account Settings
The Account Settings section displays settings for the current authenticated user. Usernames cannot
be changed. Based on your Nessus product, the following information appears in this section:

Version Settings

Tenable.io Username (email address)

Full Name

User Type

Nessus Manager Username

Full Name

User Type

Nessus Professional Username

User Type

Change Password

To change another user’s password, log in to Nessus as a user with administrative privileges, and
select the button, and then navigate to the Users section of the Accounts page.

Plugin Rules
Plugin Rules allow you to hide or change the severity of any given plugin. In addition, rules can be lim-
ited to a specific host or specific time frame. From this page you can view, create, edit, and delete your
rules.

The Plugin Rules section provides a facility to create a set of rules that dictate the behavior of certain
plugins related to any scan performed. A rule can be based on the Host (or all hosts), Plugin ID, an
optional Expiration Date, and manipulation of Severity.

This allows you to reprioritize the severity of plugin results to better account for your organization’s
security posture and response plan.

API Keys
API Keys consist of an Access Key and a Secret Key, and are used to authenticate with the Nessus
REST API (version 6.4 or greater) and passed with requests using the "X-ApiKeys" HTTP header.

Select the Generate button to create an Access Key and a Secret Key.

Note:
l API Keys are only presented upon initial generation. Please store API Keys in a safe location, as
they cannot be retrieved later.
l API Keys cannot be retrieved by Nessus. If lost, an API Key must be regenerated.
l Regenerating an API Key will immediately deauthorize any applications currently using the key.

The Settings page contains the following sections:

l Scanners

l User and Group Accounts

l Communication

l Advanced Settings

Tip: For instructions on performing the actions available on the System Settings page, see the related
How To section of this guide.

Scanners are displayed on the Settings page and displays the left navigation menu that includes links
to settings specific to Scanners.

Based on product version, the Scanners page navigation includes Overview, Link (Nessus Pro-
fessional only), Software Update, and in Nessus Manager, linked Remote and Agents scanners.

Scanners / Local / Overview

Purpose: The Scanners / Local / Overview page displays the Overview for your Local Nessus Scanner
and its Nessus plugins, including the following information:

l Your Nessus product name and version.

l Your number of licensed hosts.

l Your number of licensed Scanners.

l Your number of licensed Agents (Nessus Manager and Tenable.io only).

l Your plugin last update.

l Your plugin expiration date.

l The plugin set identifier.

l Your Nessus Activation Code.

The button next to the Activation Code allows you to update your Activation Code as needed.

Local

Overview The overview page gives detailed information Nessus Man- All user
about the product version and plugins. ager account roles
except Basic
Nessus Pro-
fessional

Permissions Users or groups are added to the permission Nessus Man- System
page for the following permissions: ager Administrator

l No Access: Any users or groups specified Nessus Pro-

cannot view, use, or manage the scanners. fessional

l Can Use: Users or groups specified can

view and use the scanner, but cannot make
any changes.

l Can Manage: Users or groups specified

can make changes to the scanner's set-
tings.

Link Enabling this option allows this local scanner to Nessus Pro- System
be linked to Nessus Manager or to Tenable.io. fessional Administrator

Tip: When linking to Tenable.io, use the fol-

lowing settings:

l Manager Host: cloud.tenable.com

l Manager Port: 443
l Linking Key: Cloud Linking Key

In Tenable.io, the Linking Key is displayed on

the Scanners > Linked Scanners page.

Note: Nessus Professional can be linked to

another Nessus Manager or Tenable.io instance
only once.

Software Software updates can be configured for updating Nessus Man- System
Update all Nessus components, Nessus plugins only, or ager Administrator
disabled altogether.
Nessus Pro-
Options include Update Frequency and you fessional
have the ability to configure a custom Plugin
Feed host.

This page also allows you to perform a Manual

Software Update using the downloaded, com-
pressed TAR file obtained when you Manage Nes-
sus Offline and Download and Copy Plugins.

Remote

Linked Remote scanners can be linked to this manager Nessus Man- System
through the provided key or valid account cre- ager Administrator
dentials. Once linked, they can be managed loc-
Administrator
ally and selected when configuring scans.

Agents

Linked Agents can be linked to this manager using the Nessus Man- System
provided key with the following setup instruc- ager Administrator
tions. Once linked, they must be added to a

group for use when configuring scans. Also,

linked agents will automatically download plu-
gins from the manager upon connection.

Note: this process can take several minutes

and is required before an agent will return scan
results.

Groups Agent groups are used to organize and manage Nessus Man- System
the agents linked to your scanner. Each agent ager Administrator
can be added to any number of groups and
scans can be configured to use these groups as
targets. From this view, you can manage your
agent groups.

Nessus Manager Overview page displays the Overview for your Local Nessus Scanner and its Nessus
plugins:

l Your Nessus product name and version.

l Your number of licensed hosts.

l Your number of licensed scanners.

l Your number of licensed agents.

l Your plugin last update.

l Your plugin expiration date.

l The plugin set identifier.

l Your Nessus Activation Code.

From the Overview Page, you can:

l Update Nessus Version

l Update Plugins

l Update Activation Code

Note: If you are working with Nessus offline, see Manage Nessus Offline.

Nessus Agents can be connected to Tenable.io or Nessus Manager. Agents increase scan flexibility by
making it easy to scan assets without host credentials or assets that are offline. In addition, you can
use agents to conduct large-scale concurrent scans with little network impact.

In the Scanners section of the Settings page, in the Agents section, you can view details about your
linked agents, and add or remove agents from Agent Groups.

List of Linked AgentsAgent Group ManagementBlackout Windows

This table displays your linked agents. Click any row in the table to view more details about the agent.

Click here to add or remove agents from Agent Groups.

Click here to manage Blackout Windows.

Agent groups are used to organize and manage the agents linked to your scanner. Each agent can be
added to any number of groups and scans can be configured to use these groups as targets.

On the Scanners / Agents / Linked page, you can create a new group.

Once a new group has been created, you can:

l Manage its agents.

l Set permissions for the agent group.

l Rename the agent group.

During the installation of Nessus Agents, you had the option of adding your agent to an existing agent
group.

If you did not create any agent groups prior to installing the Nessus Agent, or you opted to not add
your agent to an existing group, you can create agent groups in the Nessus UI.

Setting Product Ver-

Description User Type(s)
Name sion(s)

Users Individual Nessus accounts to be used for Tenable.io All User Types
assigning permissions.
Nessus Pro-
fessional

Nessus Man-
ager

Groups Collections of users created for shared per- Tenable.io System Admin-
missions. istrator
Nessus Man-
ager

The Communications page allows you to configure Nessus to communicate with network servers and
connector services.

Setting Product
Description User Type(s)
Name Version(s)

NETWORK

LDAP The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is Tenable.io System

Server an industry standard for accessing and maintaining Administrator
Nessus Man-
directory services across an organization. Once con-
ager
nected to an LDAP server, Nessus administrators can
add users straight from their directory and these

users can authenticate using their directory cre-

dentials.

Tip: Nessus auto-negotiates encryption, therefore

there are no encryption options in the Nessus inter-
face.

Proxy Proxy servers are used to forward HTTP requests. If Tenable.io System
Server your organization requires one, Nessus uses these Administrator
Nessus Man-
settings to perform plugin updates and communicate
ager
with remote scanners. There are five fields that con-
trol proxy settings, but only the host and port are Nessus Pro-
required. Username, password, and user-agent are fessional
available if needed.

SMTP Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an industry Tenable.io System

Server standard for sending and receiving email. Once con- Administrator
Nessus Man-
figured for SMTP, Nessus will email scan results to the
ager
list of recipients specified in a scan’s "Email Noti-
fications" configuration. These results can be custom Nessus Pro-
tailored through filters and require an HTML com- fessional
patible email client.

CONNECTORS

Cisco Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is a security policy Nessus Man- System
ISE management and control platform that simplifies ager Administrator
access control and security compliance for wired,
wireless, and VPN connectivity. Cisco ISE is primarily
used to provide secure access, support BYOD ini-
tiatives, and enforce usage policies. Nessus only sup-
ports Cisco ISE version 1.2 or greater.

The Advanced page allows you to manually configure the Nessus daemon.

Details
l Advanced Settings are global settings.

l To configure Advanced Settings, you must use a Nessus System Administrator user account.

l When modified, changes go into effect a few minutes after the setting is saved.

l global.max_hosts, max_hosts, and max_checks settings can have a particularly great impact on
the ability to perform scans.

l Custom policy settings supersede the global Advanced Settings.

Note: When an Advanced Setting is added or an existing setting is modified, you are prompted to either
Discard or Save the setting.

Setting Default Description

allow_post_ Yes Allows a user to

scan_editing make edits to
scan results
after the scan is
complete.

auto_enable_ Yes Automatically

dependencies activates the plu-
gins that are
depended on. If
disabled, not all
plugins may run
despite being
selected in a
scan policy.

auto_update Yes Automatically

updates plugins.
If enabled and
Nessus is
registered, fetch
the newest plu-
gins from plu-
gins.nessus.org
automatically.
Disable if the
scanner is on an
isolated network
that is not able
to reach the
Internet.

auto_update_ 24 Number of
delay hours to wait
between two
updates. Four
(4) hours is the
minimum
allowed interval.

cgi_path /cgi-bin:/scripts A colon-delim-

ited list of CGI
paths.

checks_read_ 5 Read timeout

timeout for the sockets
of the tests.

disable_ui No Disables the

user interface
on managed
scanners.

disable_ntp Yes Disables the old

NTP legacy pro-
tocol.

disable_ No Disables the

xmlrpc new XMLRPC
(Web Server)
interface.

dumpfile C:\Pro- Location of a

gramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\logs\nessusd.dump dump file for
debugging out-
put if generated.

global.max_ 2150 Maximum num-

hosts ber of sim-
ultaneous
checks against
each host
tested.

global.max_ 0 If set to non-

scans zero, this
defines the max-
imum number
of scans that
may take place
in parallel.

If this option is
not used, no

limit is enforced.

global.max_ 50 Maximum num-

simult_tcp_ ber of sim-
sessions ultaneous TCP
sessions
between all
scans.

If this option is
not used, no
limit is enforced.

global.max_ 1024 If set to non-

web_users zero, this
defines the max-
imum of (web)
users who can
connect in par-
allel.

If this option is
not used, no
limit is enforced.

listen_ 0.0.0.0 IPv4 address to

address listen for incom-
ing connections.
If set to
127.0.0.1, this
restricts access
to local con-
nections only.

log_whole_ No Logs every detail

attack of the attack.
Helpful for
debugging
issues with the

scan, but this

may be disk
intensive.

logfile C:\Pro- Location where

gramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\logs\nessusd.messages the Nessus log
file is stored.

login_banner None A text banner

that appears
before the initial
login the Flash
or HTML5 client.

max_hosts 5 Maximum num-

ber of hosts
checked at one
time during a
scan.

max_checks 5 Maximum num-

ber of sim-
ultaneous
checks against
each host
tested.

nasl_log_type Normal Direct the type

of NASL engine
output in nes-
susd.dump.

nasl_no_sig- No Determines if
nature_check Nessus con-
siders all NASL
scripts as being
signed. Selecting
“yes” is unsafe
and not recom-

mended.

nessus_syn_ 65536 Sets the max

scanner. number of SYN
global_ packets that Nes-
through- sus sends per
put.max second during
its port scan (no
matter how
many hosts are
scanned in par-
allel). Adjust this
setting based on
the sensitivity of
the remote
device to large
numbers of SYN
packets.

nessus_udp_ 31536000 Used to specify

scanner.max_ the maximum
run_time run time, in
seconds, for the
UDP port scan-
ner. If the set-
ting is not
present, a
default value of
365 days
(31536000
seconds) is used
instead.

non_simult_ 139, 445, 3389 Specifies ports

ports against which
two plugins can-
not not be run
simultaneously.

optimize_test Yes Optimizes the

test procedure.
Changing this to
“no” causes
scans to take
longer and typ-
ically generate
more false pos-
itives.

plugin_ Yes Designates if

upload admin users
may upload plu-
gins.

plugins_ 320 Maximum life-

timeout time of a plu-
gin’s activity (in
seconds).

port_range Default Range of the

ports the port
scanners scans.
Can use
keywords
“default” or
“all”, as well as a
comma delim-
ited list of ports
or ranges of
ports.

purge_plu- No Determines if
gin_db Nessus purges
the plugin data-
base at each
update. This dir-
ects Nessus to

remove, re-
download, and
re-build the plu-
gin database for
each update.
Choosing yes
causes each
update to be
considerably
slower.

qdb_mem_ Low Directs Nessus

usage to use more or
less memory
when idle. If Nes-
sus is running
on a dedicated
server, setting
this to “high”
uses more
memory to
increase per-
formance. If Nes-
sus is running
on a shared
machine, set-
tings this to
“low” uses con-
siderably less
memory, but at
the price of a
moderate per-
formance
impact.

reduce_con- No Reduces the

nections_on_ number of TCP

congestion sessions in par-

allel when the
network
appears to be
congested.

report_ Yes Anonymously

crashes reports crashes
to Tenable, Inc..

When set to yes,

Nessus crash
information is
sent to Tenable,
Inc. to identify
problems. Per-
sonal nor sys-
tem-identifying
information is
sent to Tenable,
Inc..

remote_ None This setting

listen_port allows Nessus to
operate on dif-
ferent
ports: one ded-
icated to com-
municating with
remote agents
and scanners
(comms port)
and the other
for user logins
(management
port).

By adding this

setting, you can

link your man-
aged scanners
and agents a dif-
ferent port
(Example: 9000)
instead of the
defined in
xmlrpc_listen_
port (default
8834).

rules C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\conf\nessusd.rules Location of the

Nessus Rules file
(nessusd.rules).

safe_checks Yes Safe checks rely

on banner
grabbing rather
than active test-
ing for a vul-
nerability.

silent_depend- Yes If enabled, the

encies list of plugin
dependencies
and their output
are not included
in the report. A
plugin may be
selected as part
of a policy that
depends on
other plugins to
run. By default,
Nessus runs
those plugin

dependencies,
but does not
include their out-
put in the
report. Setting
this option to no
causes both the
selected plugin
and any plugin
dependencies to
all appear in the
report.

slice_net- No If this option is

work_ set, Nessus does
addresses not scan a net-
work incre-
mentally
(10.0.0.1, then
10.0.0.2, then
10.0.0.3, and so
on) but attempts
to slice the work-
load throughout
the whole net-
work (e.g., it
scans 10.0.0.1,
then 10.0.0.127,
then 10.0.0.2,
then 10.0.0.128,
and so on).

ssl_cipher_list Strong Nessus only sup-

ports 'strong'
SSL ciphers
when con-
necting to port

8834.

ssl_mode tls_1_2 Minimum sup-

ported version
of TLS.

If not present or
if removed, Nes-
sus will use TLS
1.0 (tls_1_0).

stop_scan_ No Stops scanning

on_dis- a host that
connect seems to have
been dis-
connected dur-
ing the scan.

stop_scan_ No Stops a scan

on_hang that seems to be
hung.

throttle_scan Yes Throttles scan

when CPU is
overloaded.

user_max_ None The number of

login_attempt possible invalid
login attempts
before a user is
locked out.

Note: A user
with admin-
istrative priv-
ileges must
edit the
locked
account to
unlock the
user.

www_logfile C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\logs\www_serv- Location where

er.log the Nessus Web
Server (user
interface) log is
stored.

xmlrpc_idle_ 30 XMLRPC Idle Ses-

session_ sion Timeout in
timeout minutes. Value
defaults to 30
minutes. If the
value is set to
zero (0), the
default value of
30 minutes
applies. There is
no maximum
limit for this
value.

xmlrpc_ 8834 Port for the Nes-

listen_port sus Web Server
to listen on (new
XMLRPC pro-
tocol).

This section includes instructions and procedures for common Nessus usage.

l Manage Nessus License and Registration

l Manage Activation Code

l User Profile

l System Settings

l Manage Scanners

l Manage Accounts

l Manage Communications

l Manage Advanced Settings

l Manage Scans

l Policies

l Manage Nessus Agents

l Custom SSL Certificates

l Enable SSH Local Security Checks

l Credentialed Checks on Windows

This section includes information and steps to perform common tasks associated with managing Nes-
sus Scans.

For information, see the following links:

l Create a Scan

l Create an Agent Scan

l Create a Scan Folder

l Manage Scans

l Manage Agent Groups

Tip: For more information about the Scans page, see the related Features section of this guide.

Create a Basic Network Scan

1. On the Scans / My Scans page, select the New Scan button.

The Scan Library appears.

2. Select the Basic Network Scan template.

3. Configure the scan settings using the Basic, Discovery, Assessment, Report, and Advanced
links.

4. Select Credentials.

5. In the Credentials list, select the applicable credentials required to perform the scan. Multiple
credentials can be added.

6. Select Save or Launch.

l Select the Save button to save the scan without launching. The scan is set to On Demand,
and can be launched from the Scans / MyScans page.

l Select the Save ▼ arrow to display the Launch option. If you select Launch, the scan will
be saved and launch immediately.

Create an Advanced Scan

1. On the Scans / My Scans page, select the New Scan button.

The Scan Library appears.

2. Select the Advanced Scan template.

3. Configure the scan settings using the Basic, Discovery, Assessment, Report, and Advanced
links.

4. Select Credentials.

5. In the Credentials list, select the applicable credentials required to perform the scan. Multiple
credentials can be added and configured.

6. If applicable, select Compliance.

8. If applicable, select Plugins.

The enabled plugins appear.

9. Select Save or Launch.

l Select the Save button to save the scan without launching. The scan is set to On Demand,
and can be launched from the Scans / MyScans page.

l Select the Save ▼ arrow to display the Launch option. If you select Launch, the scan will
be saved and launch immediately.

Create a PCI Quarterly External Scan (Unofficial)

1. Navigate to the Scans / My Scans page.

2. Select the New Scan button.

3. Select the PCI Quarterly External Scan (Unofficial) template.

4. Enter a Name and Description.

5. Next, if applicable, configure settings: Basic, Discovery, and Advanced.

Tip: In Nessus Professional and Nessus Manager, the scan results from the PCI Quarterly External
Scan (Unofficial) may not be submitted to Tenable, Inc. for PCI AVS Validation. This feature is
available only in Tenable.io.

Tip: For scanning agents, see Manage Nessus Agents.

Note: Before an Agent can be used in a scan, the Agent must be added to at least one Agent Group.

Create a Basic Agent Scan

1. On the Scans / My Scans page, select the New Scan button.

The Scan Library appears.

3. Select the Basic Agent Scan template.

Name Required

Folder The folder where this Agent Scan is stored. The default selection is My Scans.

Dashboard If you select Enabled, the scan results are included in dashboards.

Agent Required
Groups
Use the drop-down to select one or more Agent Groups.

Scan Win- Use the Scan Window drop-down to select an interval of time. To be included
dow and visible in vulnerability reports, Nessus Agents must report within this
time-frame.

Predefined values:

l 15 minutes

l 30 minutes

l 1 hour

l 6 hours

l 12 hours

l 1 day

6. Select Save or Launch.

l Select the Save button to save the scan without launching. The scan is set to On Demand,
and can be launched from the Scans / MyScans page.

l Select the Save ▼ arrow to display the Launch option. If you select Launch, the scan will
be saved and launch immediately.

Create an Advanced Agent Scan

1. On the Scans / My Scans page, select the New Scan button.

The Scan Library appears.

3. Configure the scan’s Settings using the Basic, Discovery, Assessment, Report, and Advanced
links.

4. Select Credentials.

5. If applicable, select Compliance.

7. If applicable, select Plugins; enabled plugins are displayed.

8. Select Save or Launch.

l Select the Save button to save the scan without launching. The scan is set to On Demand,
and can be launched from the Scans / MyScans page.

l Select the Save ▼ arrow to display the Launch option. If you select Launch, the scan will
be saved and launch immediately.

1. From the Scans / My Scans page, select New Folder.

The New Folder window appears.

2. Type a Name for your new folder. The name must be 20 characters or fewer.

3. Click the Create button.

The new folder appears in the left navigation bar.

View all scans on the Scans / All Scans page.

When a scan is selected from the list of scans, the More button appears and additional options for the
selected scan become available.

Select Configure to display the scan results and modify scan settings.

After a scan is imported, you can view its Scan Results. By default, imported scans do not have the
Dashboard Enabled feature turned on.

Tip: Scans results can be imported from other Nessus Manager scans, even from other Nessus installs.

Upload Scan Options

Option Description

.nessus An XML-based format and the de-facto standard in Nessus 4.2 and later. This format
uses an expanded set of XML tags to make extracting and parsing information more
granular. This report does not allow chapter selection.

If the policy is exported and saved to a .nessus file, the passwords are stripped.

When importing a .nessus file format, you will need to re-apply your passwords to the
credentials being used.

Configure a Scan
The Configure option allows you to manage scan settings and schedules.

Disable a Scheduled Scan

If the scan that you have selected is configured with a schedule, the More menu allows you to disable
the scan’s schedule.

Copy a Scan
Based on permissions, you have the ability to Copy existing scans.

1. Select the scan to be copied.

2. From the More drop-down menu, select Copy to.

3. Copy the scan to an existing folder or select New Folder to create a new folder to store the
copied scan.

4. Type a new Scan Name and choose whether or not to Include scans history.

Imported scans cannot be copied; they can be moved.

Move a Scan
Similar to copying a scan, the Move to to option allows you to move a selected scan to a different
folder, to the Trash folder, or allows you to create a New Folder to move the scan to.

On the Scanners / Agents / Linked page, you can create a new agent group.

Note: Agent group names are case sensitive. When you link agents using System Center Configuration
Manager (SCCM) or the command line, you must use the correct case.

Agent groups are used to organize and manage the agents linked to your scanner. Each agent can be
added to any number of groups and scans can be configured to use these groups as targets.

Once a new group has been created, you can:

l Add agents to the group.

l Manage its agents.

l Set permissions for the agent group.

l Rename the agent group.

During the installation of Nessus Agents, you had the option of adding your agent to an existing agent
group.

If you did not have any agent groups created prior to the Nessus Agent’s install, or you opted to not
add your agent to an existing group, you can create agent groups in the Nessus UI.

Create an Agent Group

1. In Nessus, select the settings button.

2. Select the link for Scanners / Agents / Groups.

3. Select the New Group button.

4. In the Name field, name your agent group.

5. Select Save to continue.

The new Agent Group page appears.

2. Select the name of the agent group to which you want to add Agents.

3. From the Available Agents list, select the + button.

The agent moves from the Available Agents column to the Member Agents column.

Add Permissions to an Agent Group

1. Go to the Scanners / Agents / Groups page.

2. Select the name of the agent group to which you want to add permissions.

3. Select the Permissions link.

Note: Only existing Nessus users or groups can be added to permissions for the agent group(s).

On this page, you have the following options:

l Add individual Nessus users and set specific permissions for that user.

l Add Nessus User Groups and set specific permissions for that group.

Agent groups have two permission options: Can Use or No Access.

Change the Name of an Agent Group

1. Go to the Scanners / Agents / Groups page.

2. Select the name of the agent group .

3. Select the Settings link.

4. In the Name field, rename your group.

5. Select Save.

This section includes information and steps to perform common tasks associated with managing Nes-
sus Policies.

l Create a Policy

l Create a Limited Plugin Policy

l Manage Policies

Tip: For more information about the Policies page, see the related Features section of this guide.

On the Policies page, you can create a New Policy, or manage your policies.

Tip: Creating a new Policy involves the same steps as creating a new Scan: Use the New Policy button,
select a template, and configure your policy’s settings.

Create a Basic Scan Policy

1. On the Policies page, select New Policy

The Template Library appears.

3. Configure the scan’s Settings using the Basic, Discovery, Assessment, Report, and Advanced
links.

4. Select Credentials.

5. From the Credentials list, select applicable credentials required to perform the scan. Multiple
credentials can be added and configured.

Create an Advanced Scan Policy

1. On the Policies page, select New Policy.

The Policy Library appears.

2. Select the Advanced Scan template.

3. Configure the scan’s Settings using the Basic, Discovery, Assessment, Report, and Advanced
links.

4. Select Credentials.

5. From the Credentials list, select applicable credentials required to perform the scan. Multiple
credentials can be added and configured.

6. If applicable, select Compliance.

7. From the Compliance Checks list, select compliance checks applicable to perform the scan. Mul-
tiple compliance checks can be added and configured.

8. If applicable, select Plugins; enabled plugins are displayed.

If Agents are linked to Nessus, you also can create Agent policies.

The Policies page display your existing policies.

When you select a policy from the list of existing policies (placing a check in the box besides its name),
the More button will appear.

Upload a Policy
The Upload button allows you to upload a previous policy. Using the native file browser box, select
the policy from your local system and select Open.

Download a Policy
Select Download to open the browser’s download dialog box. From here, you can open the policy in
an external program (e.g., text editor) or save the policy to the directory of your choice. Depending on
the browser, the policy may be downloaded automatically.

Copy a Policy
To copy a policy, select the policy, select More, and select Copy.

Delete a Policy
To delete a policy, select the policy, select X or More, and select Delete.

To access the User Profile page, on the top navigation menu, select the drop down arrow next to your
user name, and select User Profile.

Your User Profile includes the following pages:

l Account Settings

l API Keys

l Change Password

l Plugin Rules

Tip: For more information about the User Profile page, see the related Features section of this guide.

The Account Settings page displays settings for the current authenticated user.

Note: Once created, a username cannot be changed.

Based on your Nessus product, the following information appears.

Version Settings

Tenable.io Username (e-mail address of the user)

Full Name
Email
User Type

Nessus Manager Username

Full Name
Email
User Type

Nessus Pro- User Name

Note: Nessus Professional user accounts do not have an associated email

address.
Nessus Professional has only two user types: System Administrator and
Standard.

API Keys (an Access Key and a Secret Key) are used to authenticate with the Nessus REST API (ver-
sion 6.4 or greater) and passed with requests using the "X-ApiKeys" HTTP header.

The User Profile / API Keys page allows you to generate API keys.

Select the Generate button to create an Access Key and a Secret Key.

Note:
l API Keys are only presented upon initial generation. Please store API Keys in a safe location, as
they cannot be retrieved later.
l API Keys cannot be retrieved by Nessus. If lost, the API Keys must be regenerated.
l Regenerating the API Keys immediately unauthorizes any applications currently utilizing the key.

The Change Password section allows you to change your password. Users with administrative priv-
ileges can change other user passwords.

To change another user’s password, log in to Nessus as a user with administrative privileges, select the
button, and navigate to the Users section of the Accounts page.

Create a new Plugin Rule

1. On the User Profile/ Plugin Rules page, select the New Rule button.

2. Enter values for the Host, Plugin ID, Expiration Date (Optional), and the Severity that you would
like the plugin to adopt.

3. Select the Save button.

New Plugin Rule Example

Host: 192.168.0.6

Plugin ID: 9877

Expiration Date: 12/31/2016

Severity: Critical

This rule is created for scans performed on IP address 192.168.0.6. Once saved, this Plugin Rule
changes the default severity of plugin ID 79877 (CentOS 7 : rpm (CESA-2014:1976) to a severity of
low until 12/31/2016. After 12/31/2016, the results of plugin ID 79877 will return to its critical
severity.

Update a Plugin Rule

1. On the User Profile/ Plugin Rules page, select the Plugin Rule(s) that you want to update.

2. On the Edit Rule page, update the Host, Plugin ID, Expiration Date, or Severity values.

3. Select the Save button.

Delete a Plugin Rule

1. On the User Profile/ Plugin Rules page, select the check box(es) for the Plugin Rule(s) that you
want to delete.

2. Select the Delete button.

3. On the Delete Rule confirmation screen, select Delete.

This section contains the following tasks available on the Settings page.

l System Settings

l Manage Scanners

l Manage Accounts

l Manage Communications

l Manage Advanced Settings

Tip: For more information about the Settings page, see the related Features section of this guide.

From the Nessus home page, the button links you to the Nessus system Settings: Scanners,
Accounts, Communication, and Advanced.

If Remote scanners are linked to this Nessus Manager, a list of their scans are listed.

On the Scanners / Local / Software page, you can configure how and when you want to install Nes-
sus updates.

There are two parts of a Nessus update: Component Updates and Plugin Updates.

When an update becomes available, you can opt to use the Manual Software Update or opt to use
Automatic Updates.

To view the Software Update page, select the button.

l Update Nessus Version

l Update Plugins

l Update Activation Code

Actions related to Nessus components and the latest plugins for Nessus are performed by using the
Software Update page or via the Update Nessus Software.

To access the Software Update page, use the button.

Manual Software Update

At the top of the Software Update page, you can opt to use the Manual Software Update button.

When you select this method of software update, Nessus performs a one-time update.

Manual Software Update Options

l Update all components

l Update plugins (only)

Note: If you select the Update plugins option, the scanner receives plugin updates, but does not
receive feature or operational updates for the Nessus UI or the Nessus engine. Selecting this
option prevents new features and functionality from being displayed and or and becoming oper-
ational.

l Upload your own plugin archive

A plugin archive is a compressed TAR file that is created and downloaded when you Manage Nes-
sus Offline and Download and Copy Plugins. For more information, see Install Plugins Manually.

Tip: Manual Software Update can be used in conjunction with Automatic Updates.

Automatic Updates
l Update all components

l Update plugins

l Disabled

Update Frequency

l Weekly

l Monthly

Select the button next to Update Frequency interval to customize the update frequency by any
number of hours.

Plugin Feed
You can opt to provide a specific Plugin Feed host. For example, if plugins must be updated from a
site residing in the U.S., you can specify “plugins-us.nessus.org”.

Note: If you are using Nessus offline, see the Manage Nessus Offline section.

Steps
1. On the Scanners / Local / Overview page next to the Version number, select the button.

2. On the Software Update screen, the following warning message appears:

Updating this scanner requires a restart and will abort all running scans. Are you sure you want
to continue?

3. Select Continue.

Once the download process is complete, Nessus restarts, and then prompts you to log in again.

1. On the Scanners / Local / Overview page next to the Last Updated date, select the button.

2. Select Continue to proceed.

Nessus updates with the latest Nessus plugins.

In the event that you receive a new license with a corresponding activation code, you must register the
new activation code in Nessus using either of the methods outlined below.

Note: If you are working with Nessus offline, see Manage Nessus Offline.

Update Nessus in the UI

1. In Nessus, select the button (System Settings page).

2. Select the button next to the Activation Code.

3. On the Update Activation screen, select your Registration type.

4. Enter the new Activation Code.

5. Select Save.

Next, Nessus downloads and installs the Nessus engine and the latest Nessus plugins.

Once the download process is complete, Nessus restarts, and then prompts you to log in again.

Nessus updates with the new licensing information.

Update Nessus via Command Line

1. On the system running Nessus, open a command prompt.

2. Run the nessuscli fetch --register <Activation Code> command specific to your operating sys-
tem.

Platform Command

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe fetch --register xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-

xxxx

When updating Nessus components, you can use the nessuscli update commands, also found in the
command line section.

Note: If you are working with Nessus offline, see Manage Nessus Offline.

Operating System Command

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli <arg1> <arg2>

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli <arg1> <arg2>

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus

or
Commands must Run as C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus
administrator

Software Update Commands

nessuscli update By default, this tool respects the software update options selected
through the Nessus UI.

nessuscli update --all Forces updates for all Nessus components.

nessuscli update --plugins- Forces updates for Nessus plugins only.

only

The Settings / Scanners page allows you to view and manage your Local scanner, your Remote scan-
ners, and your Agents.

Nessus Professional, Nessus Manager, and Nessus Agents feature slightly different Scanner settings:

l Nessus Professional

l Nessus Manager

l Nessus Agents

The settings landing page displays the Overview for your local Nessus Scanner and its Nessus plugins:

l Your Nessus product name and version

l Your plugin last update

l Your plugin expiration date

l The plugin set identifier

l Your Nessus Activation Code

From the Overview Page, you can:

l Update Nessus Version

l Update Plugins

l Update Activation Code

If you are working with Nessus offline, see Manage Nessus Offline

Link Scanner to Nessus Manager or Tenable.io

The Local / Link page is a Nessus Professional only feature. This page allows you to link your Nes-
sus Professional Scanner to Nessus Manager or to Tenable.io.

1. On the Local / Link page, use the toggle to create a linked scanner.

3. Enter the Manager Host, Manager Port, and Linking Key obtained from Nessus Manager or
Tenable.io.

Option Description

Scanner Unique Scanner Name. This name will appear in Nessus Manager or Tenable.io's
Name linked scanners.

Manager The hostname or IP address of Nessus Manager.

Host
If connecting to Tenable.io, use cloud.tenable.com as the Manager Host.

Manager The port number to connect to Nessus Manager (8834).

Port
If connecting to Tenable.io, use port 443.

Linking The Nessus Manager or Tenable.io Linking Key.

Key
Tip: In Nessus Manager, the Linking Key is displayed on the Scanners / Remote
/ Linked page.
In Tenable.io, the Linking Key is displayed on the Scanners > Linked Scanners
page.

Use OPTIONAL: If communication must be directed through a proxy, select this

Proxy option. Once selected, the scanner uses the Proxy Server information provided
on the Communication / Network / Proxy Server page.

In Nessus Manager, the Scanners pages include:

l Scanners / Local / Overview

l Scanners / Local / Permissions

l Scanners / Local / Software Update

l Scanners / Remote / Linked

l Scanners / Agents / Linked

Nessus Manager Overview page displays the Overview for your Local Nessus Scanner and its Nessus
plugins:

l Your Nessus product name and version.

l Your number of licensed hosts.

l Your number of licensed scanners.

l Your number of licensed agents.

l Your plugin last update.

l Your plugin expiration date.

l The plugin set identifier.

l Your Nessus Activation Code.

From the Overview Page, you can:

l Update Nessus Version

l Update Plugins

l Update Activation Code

Note: If you are working with Nessus offline, see Manage Nessus Offline.

In Nessus Manager, you can control the permissions of the local scanner by adding users or group,
or by setting the default group’s settings.

l No Access: Any users or groups specified cannot view, cannot use, or cannot manage the Scan-
ners.

l Can Use: Users or groups specified here can view and use the scanner; they are not able to
make any changes.

l Can Manage: Users or groups specified here can make changes to the Scanner’s settings.

Remote scanners can be linked to this Nessus Manager by using the Linking Key displayed. Once
linked, Remote scanners can be selected when configuring scans.

Tip: You can regenerate the Linking Key by clicking the button to the right of the key. Regenerating
the key does not disable any secondary scanners that are already registered.

From the scanners list, you can use the Disable / Enable button or the Remove button to connect,
disconnect, or remote your linked scanner(s).

To manage your remote linked scanner’s settings, open the remote scanner from the scanner’s list.

The Overview page displays details for your Remote / Linked scanner.

On the Permissions page, you can configure the permissions of the users or groups who Can use,
Can manage, or have No access this remote scanner.

After you have performed a Nessus Agent Install, you can view and manage your Nessus Agents in
the Nessus UI.

In Nessus Manager, select the button.

Delete Agents
On the Scanners/ Agents / Linked page, you can delete agents.

To delete multiple agents at once, select the check boxes that correspond to the agents you want to
delete, and then select the Remove button at the top of the page.

Scanners / Agents / Groups

On the Scanners / Agents / Linked page, you can create a new agent group.

Once a new group has been created, you can:

l Manage its Agents

l Set Permissions for the Agent Group

l Rename the Agent Group

During the installation of Nessus Agents, you had the option of adding your agent to an existing Agent
Group.

If you did not have any Agent Groups created prior to the Nessus Agent’s install, or you opted to not
add your agent to an existing group, you can create Agent Groups in the Nessus UI.

Agent groups are used to organize and manage the agents linked to your scanner. Each agent can be
added to any number of groups and scans can be configured to use these groups as targets.

Steps
Create an Agent Group
1. In Nessus, select the button.

3. Select the New Group button.

4. In the Name field, name your Agent Group.

5. Select Save to continue.

Your new Agent Group page appears.

Once created, you can manage agent groups from the Scanners / Agents / Groups page.

To access agent group settings, select the agent group from the list.

Add an Agent to a Group

1. Go to the Scanners / Agents / Groups page.

2. Select the name of the Agent Group to which you want to add agents.

3. From the Available Agents list, select the + button.

The agent moves from the Available Agents column to the Member Agents column.

Add Permissions to an Agent Group

2. Select the name of the Agent Group to which you want to add permissions.

3. Select the Permissions link.

Note: Only existing Nessus users or groups can be added to the permissions for the Agent Group(s).

On this page, you have the following options:

l Set permissions for the Default Nessus group.

l Add individual Nessus users and set specific permissions for that user.

l Add Nessus User Groups and set specific permissions for that group.

Agent Groups have two permission options: Can Use or No Access.

Change the name of the Agent Group

1. Go to the Scanners / Agents / Groups page.

2. Select the Agent Group name that you want to change.

3. Select Settings.

4. In the Name field, rename your group.

5. Select Save.

Once installed, Nessus Agents are viewed and managed in the Nessus Manager or Tenable.io inter-
face.

Note: Before an Agent can be used in a scan, the Agent must be added to at least one agent group. For
more information, see Manage Agent Groups and Create an Agent Scan.

View your Linked Agents

1. In Nessus, select the button.

2. From the Scanners overview page, select Agents > Linked.

Remove a Linked Agent

Once linked to Nessus, Nessus Agents can be managed by adding or removing them in Nessus Agent
Groups.

You can create and manage Users and Groups on the Accounts page.

1. On the Nessus home page, select the button.

2. Select Accounts.

The following table describes settings and options in Nessus Manager, Tenable.io, and Nessus Pro-
fessional.

Setting Product Ver-

Description User Type(s)
Name sion(s)

Users Users are individual Nessus accounts to be used for Tenable.io All User Types
assigning permissions.
Nessus Man-
ager

Nessus Pro-
fessional

Groups Group are collections of users created for shared Tenable.io System
permissions. Administrator
Nessus Man-
ager

Nessus Manager also has the ability to manage users using a configured LDAP Server.

Tenable.io: You must define the username as the registered email address within the Tenable.io ser-
vice.

Note: Once an account is created, the account Username cannot be changed. If you need to change an
account's username, you must create a New User account with a new username.

Steps
Create a User Account
1. From the Nessus home page, select the button.

2. Select Accounts.

4. Enter a Username.

5. Enter the user’s Full Name.

6. Enter the user’s Email address.

7. Create a user Password.

8. Retype the user’s Password.

9. Select a User Role.

10. Select Save.

User Role Description

Basic Basic user roles can only read scan results.

Note: This role is not available in Nessus Professional.

Standard Standard user roles can create scans, create policies, create schedules,
and create reports. They cannot modify any user accounts, user groups,
scanners, or system configuration settings.

Administrator Administrator user roles have the same privileges as the Standard role,
but can also manage users, manage user groups, and manage scanners.

Note: This role is not available in Nessus Professional.

System System Administrator user roles have the same privileges as the Admin-
Administrator istrator role and can manage and modify system configuration settings.

Create Groups
1. From the Nessus home page, select the button.

2. Select Accounts.

3. Select Groups.

4. Select the New Group button.

The next page allows you to Add Users to the group you created.

Add Users to the Group

1. Select the Add User button.

2. Use the drop-down menu to select a user to be added to the group.

3. If necessary, add additional users to the group.

4. When done, select the Save button.

Tip: Once you create users and groups, you can manage them on the Accounts / Users or
Accounts / Groups pages.

The Settings / Communications page allows you to configure Nessus to communicate with network
servers and connector services.

Note: Nessus Professional includes only the Proxy Server and SMTP Server communication options.

l LDAP Server

l SMTP Server

l Proxy Server

l CleanCisco ISE

The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) is an industry standard for accessing and main-
taining directory services across an organization.

Once connected to an LDAP server, Nessus administrators can add users straight from their directory
and these users can authenticate using their directory credentials.

Nessus auto-negotiates encryption, therefore there are no encryption options in the Nessus interface.

Allowable Characters
l Upper and lower case alphabetical characters (A – Z and a-z)

l Numerical characters (0 – 9)

l Period (.)

l Underscore (_)

l Dash (-)

l Plus (+)

l Ampersand (&)

If Nessus encounters characters or symbols other than specified, a 400 error will occur.

General Settings
l Host

l Port

l Username

l Password

l Base DN

Advanced Settings
l Username Attribute

l Email Attribute

l CA (PEM Format)

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an industry standard for sending and receiving email. Once
configured for SMTP, Nessus emails scan results to the list of recipients specified in a scan’s "Email
Notifications" configuration.

These results can be custom tailored through filters and require an HTML compatible email client.

General Settings
l Host

l Port

l From (sender email)

l Encryption

l Hostname (for email links)

l Auth Method

Proxy servers are used to forward HTTP requests. If your organization requires one, Nessus uses these
settings to perform plugin updates and communicate with remote scanners.

General Settings
l Host (required)

l Port (required)

l Username (optional)

l Password (optional)

l Auth Method

l Auto Detect (Default)

l None

l Basic

l Digest

l NTLM

l User-Agent (optional)

If the proxy you are using filters specific HTTP user agents, a custom user-agent string can be supplied.

Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) is a security policy management and control platform that sim-
plifies access control and security compliance for wired, wireless, and VPN connectivity.

Cisco ISE is primarily used to provide secure access, support BYOD initiatives, and enforce usage
policies. Nessus only supports Cisco ISE version 1.2 or greater.

General Settings
l Host (required)

l Port (required)

l Username (required)

l Password (required)

Permissions
l Add users or groups

You may add Nessus users and Nessus groups to the Cisco ISE connector and set permissions as No
Access, Can view, or Can quarantine. By default, permissions are set at No Access.

Nessus Manager and Nessus Professional features Advanced Settings. These customizable set-
tings provide granular control of Nessus operations.

Caution: Advanced Settings are helpful in specific situations, but changing settings is not required for
routine use. Modifying Advanced Settings may involve risk, so please use them with caution. If you are
unsure about modifying any setting, please contact Tenable, Inc. Support [email protected].

l Advanced Settings are global settings.

l To configure Advanced Settings, you must use a Nessus System Administrator user account.

l When modified, changes go into effect a few minutes after the setting is saved.

l global.max_hosts, max_hosts, and max_checks settings can have a particularly great impact on
Nessus' ability to perform scans.

l Custom policy settings supersede the global Advanced Settings.

Note: When an Advanced Setting is added or an existing setting is modified, you are prompted to either
Discard or Save the setting.

Modify Advanced Value

1. From the Advanced Settings page, select the name of the value.

2. Type a new Value

3. Select Save.

Tip: Changes go into effect a few minutes after the setting is saved.

This section contains the following resources:

l About Nessus Plugins

l About Scan Targets

l Amazon Web Services

l Command Line Operations

l Create a Limited Plugin Policy

l Manage SSL Certificates

l Default Data Directories

l Manage Logs Using log.json

l Nessus Credentialed Checks

l Offline Update Page Details

l PCI ASV Validation Scan

l Run Nessus as Non-Privileged User

l Scan Targets

You can specify the targets of a scan using a number of different formats. The following table explains
target types, examples, and a short explanation of what occurs when that target type is scanned.

Target
Example Explanation
Description

A single IPv4 192.168.0.1 The single IPv4 address is scanned.

address

A single IPv6 2001:db8::2120:17ff:fe56:333b The single IPv6 address is scanned.

address

A single link fe80:0:0:0:216:cbff:fe92:88d0%eth0 The single IPv6 address is scanned. Note

local IPv6 that usage of interfaces names instead of
address interface indexes for the scope identifier
with a scope is not supported on Windows platforms.
identifier

An IPv4 192.168.0.1-192.168.0.255 All IPv4 addresses between the start

range with a address and end address including both
start and addresses.
end address

An IPv4 192.168.0-1.3-5 The example expands to all combinations

address of the values given in the octet ranges:
with one or 192.168.0.3, 192.168.0.4, 192.168.0.5,
more octets 192.168.1.3, 192.168.0.4 and 192.168.0.5.
replaced
with
numeric
ranges

An IPv4 sub- 192.168.0.0/24 All addresses within the specified subnet

net with are scanned. The address given is not the
CIDR nota- start address. Specifying any address
tion within the subnet with the same CIDR
scans the same set of hosts.

An IPv4 sub- 192.168.0.0/255.255.255.128 All addresses within the specified subnet

net with net- are scanned. The address is not a start

mask nota- address. Specifying any address within
tion the subnet with the same netmask scans
the same hosts.

A host www.yourdomain.com The single host is scanned. If the host-

resolvable name resolves to multiple addresses the
to either an address to scan is the first IPv4 address
IPv4 or an or if it did not resolve to an IPv4 address,
IPv6 address the first IPv6 address.

A host www.yourdomain.com/24 The hostname is resolved to an IPv4

resolvable address and then treated like any other
to an IPv4 IPv4 address with CIDR target.
address
with CIDR
notation

A host www.yourdomain.com/255.255.252.0 The hostname is resolved to an IPv4

resolvable address and then treated like any other
to an IPv4 IPv4 address with netmask notation.
address
with net-
mask nota-
tion

The text link6 or link6%16 Multicast ICMPv6 echo requests are sent
'link6' out on the interface specified by the
optionally scope identifier to the ff02::1 address. All
followed by hosts that respond to the request are
an IPv6 scanned. If no IPv6 scope identifier is
scope iden- given the requests are sent out on all
tifier interfaces. Note that usage of interfaces
names for the scope identifier is not sup-
ported on Windows platforms.

Some text "Test Host 1[10.0.1.1]" or "Test Host 2 The IPv4 or IPv6 address within the brack-
[2001:db8::abcd]" ets is scanned like a normal single target.

with either a
single IPv4
or IPv6
address
within
square
brackets

Tip: Hostname targets that look like either a link6 target (start with the text "link6") or like one of the
two IPv6 range forms can be forcibly processed as a hostname by putting single quotes around the tar-
get.

This section includes command line operations for Nessus and Nessus Agents.

Tip: During command line operations, prompts for sensitive information, such as a password, do not
show characters as you type. However, the data is recorded and is accepted when you hit the Enter key.

The following topics are included in this section:

l Start or Stop Nessus

l Nessus-Service

l Nessuscli

l Nessuscli Agent

l Update Nessus Software

The following represent best practices for starting and stopping Nessus.

Mac OS X
1. Navigate to System Preferences.

2. Select the button.

3. Select the button.

4. Type your username and password.

5. To stop the Nessus service, click the Stop Nessus button.

-or-

To start the Nessus service, click the Start Nessus button.

Start or
Mac OS X Command Line Operation
Stop

Start # launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDae-

mons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusd.plist

Stop # launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchDae-

mons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusd.plist

Windows
1. Navigate to Services.

2. In the Name column, click Tenable Nessus.

3. To stop the Nessus service, right-click Tenable Nessus, and then click Stop.

-or-

To restart the Nessus service, right-click Tenable Nessus, and then click Start.

Start C:\Windows\system32>net start "Tenable Nessus"

Stop C:\Windows\system32>net stop "Tenable Nessus"

Linux
Use the following commands:

Start or Stop Linux Command Line Operation

RedHat, CentOS, and Oracle Linux

Start # /sbin/service nessusd start

Stop # /sbin/service nessusd stop

SUSE

Start # /etc/rc.d/nessusd start

Stop # /etc/rc.d/nessusd stop

FreeBSD

Start # service nessusd start

Stop # service nessusd stop

Debian, Kali, and Ubuntu

Start # /etc/init.d/nessusd start

Stop # /etc/init.d/nessusd stop

The following represent best practices for starting and stopping a Nessus Agent on a host.

Mac OS X
1. Navigate to System Preferences.

2. Click the button.

3. Click the button.

4. Type your username and password.

5. To stop the Nessus Agent service, click the Stop Nessus Agent button.

-or-

To start the Nessus Agent service, click the Start Nessus Agent button.

Start or
Mac OS X Command Line Operation
Stop

Start # launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDae-

mons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent.plist

Stop # launchctl unload -w /Library/LaunchDae-

mons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusagent.plist

Windows
1. Navigate to Services.

2. In the Name column, click Tenable Nessus Agent.

3. To stop the service, right-click Tenable Nessus Agent, and then click Stop.

-or-

To restart the Nessus Agent service, right-click Tenable Nessus Agent, and then click Start.

Start C:\Windows\system32>net start "Tenable Nessus Agent"

Stop C:\Windows\system32>net stop "Tenable Nessus Agent"

Linux
Use the following commands:

Start or Stop Linux Command Line Operation

RedHat, CentOS, and Oracle Linux

Start # /sbin/service nessusagent start

Stop # /sbin/service nessusagent stop

SUSE

Start # /etc/rc.d/nessusagent start

Stop # /etc/rc.d/nessusagent stop

FreeBSD

Start # service nessusagent start

Stop # service nessusagent stop

Debian, Kali, and Ubuntu

Start # /etc/init.d/nessusagent start

Stop # /etc/init.d/nessusagent stop

If necessary, whenever possible, Nessus services should be started and stopped using Nessus Service
controls in the operating system’s interface.

However, there are many nessus-service functions that can be performed through a command line
interface.

Unless otherwise specified, the nessusd command can be used interchangeably with nessus-ser-

vice server commands.

The # killall nessusd command is used to stop all Nessus services and in-process scans.

Note: All commands must be run by a user with administrative privileges.

Nessus-Service Syntax
Operating
Command
System

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service [-vhD] [-c <config-file>] [-p <port-number>] [-

a <address>] [-S <ip[,ip,…]>]

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessus-service [-vhD] [-c <config-file>] [-p <port-num-

ber>] [-a <address>] [-S <ip[,ip,…]>]

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessus-service [-vhD] [-c <config-file>] [-p <port-

number>] [-a <address>] [-S <ip[,ip,…]>]

Suppress Command Output Examples

You can suppress command output by using the -q option.

Linux

# /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q -D

FreeBSD

# /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q -D

-c <con- When starting the nessusd server, this option is used to specify the server-side nes-
fig-file> susd configuration file to use. It allows for the use of an alternate configuration file
instead of the standard db.

-a When starting the nessusd server, this option is used to tell the server to only listen
<address> to connections on the address <address> that is an IP, not a machine name. This
option is useful if you are running nessusd on a gateway and if you do not want
people on the outside to connect to your nessusd.

-S <ip When starting the nessusd server, force the source IP of the connections established
[,ip2,…]> by Nessus during scanning to <ip>. This option is only useful if you have a multi-
homed machine with multiple public IP addresses that you would like to use instead
of the default one. For this setup to work, the host running nessusd must have mul-
tiple NICs with these IP addresses set.

-D When starting the nessusd server, this option forces the server to run in the back-
ground (daemon mode).

-v Display the version number and exit.

-l Display a list of those third-party software licenses.

-h Show a summary of the commands and exit.

--ipv4- Only listen on IPv4 socket.

only

--ipv6- Only listen on IPv6 socket.

only

-q Operate in "quiet" mode, suppressing all messages to stdout.

-R Force a re-processing of the plugins.

-t Check the timestamp of each plugin when starting up to only compile newly updated
plugins.

-K Set a master password for the scanner.

If a master password is set, Nessus encrypts all policies and credentials contained in
the policy. When a password is set, the Nessus UI prompts you for the password.

If your master password is set and then lost, it cannot be recovered by your admin-
istrator nor Tenable, Inc. Support.

Some Nessus functions can be administered through a command line interface using the nessuscli

utility.

This allows the user to manage user accounts, modify advanced settings, manage digital certificates,
report bugs, update Nessus, and fetch necessary license information.

Note: All commands must be run by a user with administrative privileges.

Nessuscli Syntax
Operating System Command

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli <arg1> <arg2>

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli <arg1> <arg2>

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus

C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus

Nessuscli Commands
Command Description

Help Commands

nessuscli help Displays a list of Nessus commands.

The help output may vary, depending on your Nessus license.

nessuscli [cmd] help Displays additional help for specific commands identified in
the nessuscli help output.

Bug Reporting Commands

The bug reporting commands create an archive that can be sent to Tenable, Inc. to help diagnose
issues. By default, the script runs in interactive mode.

nessuscli bug-report-gen- Generates an archive of system diagnostics.

erator Running this command without arguments prompts for values.

--quiet: run the bug report generator without prompting user for
feedback.

--scrub: when in quiet mode, bug report generator sanitizes the last
two octets of the IPv4 address.

--full: when in quiet mode, bug report generator collects extra data.

User Commands

nessuscli rmuser [user- Allows you to remove a Nessus user.

name]

nessuscli chpasswd [user- Allows you to change a user’s password. You are prompted to enter
name] the Nessus user’s name. Passwords are not echoed on the screen.

nessuscli adduser [user- Allows you to add a Nessus user account.

name]
You are prompted for a username, password, and opted to allow
the user to have an administrator type account. Additionally, you
are prompted to add Users Rules for this new user account.

nessuscli lsuser Displays a list of Nessus users.

Fetch Commands

Manage Nessus registration and fetch updates

nessuscli fetch --register Uses your Activation Code to register Nessus online.

<Activation Code>
Example

# /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

nessuscli fetch --register- Registers Nessus 6.3 and newer with the nessus.license file obtained
offline nessus.license from https://plugins.nessus.org/v2/offline.php .

Note: If you are using a version of Nessus 6.2 or earlier, you must
use the information and instructions displayed on https://plu-
gins.nessus.org/offline.php. In Nessus 6.2 and earlier, the license
is contained in the fc.file.

nessuscli fetch --check Displays whether Nessus is properly registered and is able to
receive updates.

nessuscli fetch --code-in- Displays the Nessus Activation Code being used by Nessus.
use

nessuscli fetch --challenge Displays the Challenge code needed to use when performing an off-
line registration.
Example Challenge Code: aaaaaa11b2222c-
c33d44e5f6666a777b8cc99999

nessuscli fetch --security- Prepares Nessus to be connected to Security Center.

center

Fix Commands

nessuscli fix Reset registration, display network interfaces, and manage

advanced settings.
nessuscli fix [--secure] --
list Using the --secure option acts on the encrypted preferences, which
contain information about registration.
nessuscli fix [--secure] --
set <name=value> --list, --set, --get, and --delete can be used to modify or view pref-
erences.
nessuscli fix [--secure] --
get <name>

nessuscli fix [--secure] --

delete <name>

nessuscli fix --list-inter- List the network adapters on this machine.

faces

nessuscli fix --reset This command deletes all your registration information and pref-
erences, causing Nessus to run in a non-registered state.

Before running nessuscli fix --reset, verify running scans have com-

pleted, then stop the nessusd daemon or service.

Windows: net stop "Tenable Nessus"

Linux: service nessusd stop

Certificate Commands

nessuscli mkcert-client Creates a certificate for the Nessus server.

nessuscli mkcert [-q] Quietly creates a certificate with default values.

Software Update Commands

nessuscli update By default, this tool respects the software update options selected
through the Nessus UI.

nessuscli update --all Forces updates for all Nessus components.

nessuscli update --plu- Forces updates for Nessus plugins only.

gins-only

nessuscli update <tar.gz Updates Nessus plugins by using a TAR file instead of getting the
filename> updates from the plugin feed. The TAR file is obtained when you
Manage Nessus Offline - Download and Copy Plugins steps.

Manager Commands

Used for generating plugin updates for your managed scanners and agents connected to a man-
ager.

nessuscli manager down- Downloads core component updates for remotely managed agents
load-core and scanners.

nessuscli manager gen- Generates plugins archives for remotely managed agents and scan-
erate-plugins ners.

Managed Scanner Commands

Used for linking, unlinking and viewing the status of remote managed scanners.

nessuscli managed help Displays nessuscli manged commands and syntax.

nessuscli managed link -- Link a managed scanner to the Nessus Manager.

key=<key> --host=<host> -
Additional Parameters
-port=<port> [optional
parameters] --name=<name>
--ca-path=<ca_file_name>
--proxy-host=<host>

--proxy-port=<port>
--proxy-username=<username>
--proxy-password=<password>
--proxy-agent=<agent>

nessuscli managed unlink Unlink a managed scanner to the Nessus Manager.

nessuscli managed status Identifies the status of the managed scanner.

Use the nessuscli agent utility to perform some Nessus Agent functions through a command line
interface.

Note: You must run all nessuscli agent commands as a user with administrative privileges.

Nessuscli Agent Syntax

Operating System Command

Linux # /opt/nessus_agent/sbin/nessuscli agent <arg1> <arg2>

Mac OS X # /Library/NessusAgent/run/sbin/nessuscli <arg1> <arg2>

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus Agent

C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus Agent

Run cmd.exe as administrator

Nessuscli Agent Commands

Command Description

Help Commands

# nessuscli agent help Displays a list of Nessus Agent commands.

Bug Reporting Commands

# nessuscli bug-report-gen- Generates an archive of system diagnostics.

erator If you run this command without arguments, the util-
ity prompts you for values.

Possible arguments:

--quiet: Run the bug report generator without

prompting user for feedback.

--scrub: When in quiet mode, the bug report gen-

erator sanitizes the last two octets of the IPv4
address.

--full: When in quiet mode, the bug report gen-

erator collects extra data.

Local Agent Commands

Used to link, unlink, and display agent status

# nessuscli agent link --key- Using the Nessus Agent Linking Key, this command
y=<key> --host=<host> --port- links the agent to the Nessus Manager or Tenable.io.
t=<port> Required arguments:

--key=<key>

--host=<host>

--port=<port>

Optional arguments:

--name=<name>

--groups=<group1,group2,...>

--ca-path=<ca_file_name>

--proxy-host=<host>

--proxy-port=<port>

--proxy-username=<username>

--proxy-password=<password>

--proxy-agent=<agent>

Tenable.io arguments:

--cloud

# nessuscli agent unlink Unlinks agent from the Nessus Manager or Ten-
able.io.

# nessuscli agent status Displays the status of the agent, jobs pending, and if
the agent linked or not linked to server.

Example Status:

Agent linked
3 jobs pending

Agent not linked to a server

Agent is linked to 192.168.0.1:8834

1 jobs pending

When updating Nessus components, you can use the nessuscli update commands, also found in the
command line section.

Note: If you are working with Nessus offline, see Manage Nessus Offline.

Operating System Command

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli <arg1> <arg2>

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli <arg1> <arg2>

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus

or
Commands must Run as C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus
administrator

Software Update Commands

nessuscli update By default, this tool respects the software update options selected
through the Nessus UI.

nessuscli update --all Forces updates for all Nessus components.

nessuscli update --plugins- Forces updates for Nessus plugins only.

only

This section contains information related to the management of SSL certificates. This section includes
the following topics:

l Custom SSL Certificates

l SSL Client Certificate Authentication

l Create a New Custom CA and Server Certificate

l Upload a Custom CA Certificate

l Add a Root CA

l Create Nessus SSL Certificates for Login

l Enable Connections with Smart Card or CAC Card

l Connect with Certificate or Card Enabled Browser

By default, Nessus is installed and managed using HTTPS and SSL support and uses port 8834. Default
installation of Nessus uses a self-signed SSL certificate.

To avoid browser warnings, a custom SSL certificate specific to your organization can be used. During
the installation, Nessus creates two files that make up the certificate: servercert.pem and server-
key.pem. These files must be replaced with certificate files generated by your organization or a trus-
ted Certificate Authority (CA).

Before replacing the certificate files, stop the Nessus server. Replace the two files and re-start the Nes-
sus server. Subsequent connections to the scanner should not display an error if the certificate was
generated by a trusted CA.

Location of Certificate Files

Operating System Directory

Linux /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem

/opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem

FreeBSD /usr/local/nessus/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem

/usr/local/nessus/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem

Windows Vista and later C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\CA\servercert.pem

C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\CA\serverkey.pem

Mac OS X /Library/Nessus/run/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem

/Library/Nessus/run/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem

You can also use the /getcert switch to install the root CA in your browser, which will remove
the warning.

https://[IP address]:8834/getcert

Note: To set up an intermediate certificate chain, a file named serverchain.pem must be placed in the
same directory as the servercert.pem file. This file contains the 1-n intermediate certificates (con-
catenated public certificates) necessary to construct the full certificate chain from the Nessus server
to its ultimate root certificate (one trusted by the user’s browser).

Nessus supports use of SSL client certificate authentication. This allows use of SSL client certificates,
smart cards, and CAC authentication when the browser is configured for this method.

Nessus allows for password-based or SSL Certificate authentication methods for user accounts. When
creating a user for SSL certificate authentication, the nessuscli mkcert-client utility is used
through the command line on the Nessus server.

To allow SSL certificate authentication in Nessus, you must configure the Nessus web server with a
server certificate and CA (Certificate Authority).

This allows the web server to trust certificates created by the Certificate Authority (CA) for authen-
tication purposes. Generated files related to certificates must be owned by root:root, and have the cor-
rect permissions by default.

Note: You must re-link any connected Nessus Agents or managed Scanners after loading new cer-
tificates.

Steps
1. Create a new custom CA and server certificate for the Nessus server using the nessuscli
mkcert command at the command line. This will place the certificates in their correct dir-
ectories.

When prompted for the hostname, enter the DNS name or IP address of the server in the
browser such as https://hostname:8834/ or https://ipaddress:8834/. The default certificate
uses the hostname.

2. If you want to use a CA certificate instead of the Nessus generated one, make a copy of the self-
signed CA certificate using the appropriate command for your OS:

Linux
# cp /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/cacert.pem /op-
t/nessus/com/nessus/CA/ORIGcacert.pem

Windows Vista and later

C:\> copy C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\CA\cacert.pem

C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\CA\ORIGcacert.pem

3. If the certificates to be used for authentication are created by a CA other than the Nessus server,
the CA certificate must be installed on the Nessus server.

Linux

Windows 7 and later

Copy the organization’s CA certificate to C:\Pro-
gramData\Tenable\Nessus\nessus\CA\cacert.pem

4. Configure the Nessus server for certificate authentication. Once certificate authentication is
enabled, log in using a username and password is disabled.

Caution: Nessus does not support connecting Agents, Remote Scanners, or Managed Scanners
using the force_pubkey_auth option. Configure an alternate port to enable supporting remote
agents and scanners with force_pubkey_auth enabled using remote_listen_port in the
Advanced Settings.

Linux
# /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fix --set force_pubkey_auth=yes

Windows
C:\> cd C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\

C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus> nessuscli.exe fix --set force_pubkey_

auth=yes

5. Once the CA is in place and the force_pubkey_auth setting is enabled, restart the Nessus ser-
vices with the service nessusd restart command.

Note: Any linked Agents will still have an old certificate (ms_cert) and communication will fail to
the Nessus Manager. Relink the Agent using the following commands:

nessuscli agent unlink

nessuscli agent link --host=<host> --port=<port> --key=<key> --groups<-

group1,group2>

After Nessus has been configured with the proper CA certificate(s), you can log in to Nessus using SSL
client certificates, Smart Cards, and CACs.

These steps describe how to upload a custom CA (Certificate Authority) certificate to the Nessus web
server through the command line.

Steps
1. Create one or more custom CA and server certificates.

2. Back up the original Nessus CA and server certificates and keys:

cp /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/cacert.pem
/opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/cacert.pem.orig
cp /opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/cakey.pem /opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/cakey.pem.orig
cp /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem
/opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem.orig
cp /opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem
/opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem.orig

3. Replace the original certificates with the new custom certificates:

cp customCA.pem /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/cacert.pem
cp customCA.key /opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/cakey.pem
cp servercert.pem /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/servercert.pem
cp server.key /opt/nessus/var/nessus/CA/serverkey.pem

4. Restart Nessus:

service nessusd restart

Note: Any linked agent has an old certificate in its configuration, (ms_cert) and upon restart, com-
munication fails to the manager. You can remedy this by relinking the agent to the controller:

nessuscli agent unlink

nessuscli agent link --host=<host> --port=<port> --key=<key> --groups<group1,group2>

You can also load the cacert.pem file into the custom_CA.inc file in the Agents plugin directory:

scp customCA.pem root@agentip:/opt/nessus_agent/lib/nessus/custom_CA.inc

These steps describe how to add a root Certificate Authority (CA) public certificate to the list of trusted
scanners for Nessus.

Steps
1. If your certificate is in PEM format, save the certificate as a text file.

Tip: You can save more than one certificate in a single text file.

2. Rename the file custom_CA.inc.

3. Move the file to your plugins directory:

Linux
/opt/nessus/lib/nessus/plugins

Windows
C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\plugins\

Mac OS X
/Library/Nessus/run/lib/nessus/plugins

The CA is available for use in Nessus.

To log in to a Nessus server with SSL certificates, the certificates must be created with the proper util-
ity. For this process, the nessuscli mkcert-client command line utility is used on the system. The
six questions asked are to set defaults for the creation of users during the current session. These
include certificate lifetime, country, state, location, organization, and organizational unit. The defaults
for these options may be changed during the actual user creation if desired. The user(s) will then be
created one at a time as prompted. At the end of the process the certificates are copied appropriately
and are used to log in to the Nessus server.

1. On the Nessus server, run the nessuscli mkcert-client command.

Linux:
# /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli mkcert-client

Windows (Run as a local Administrator user):

C:\> cd C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\

C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus> nessuscli mkcert-client

2. Fill in the fields as prompted. The process is identical on a Linux or Windows server.
mkcert-client Output

Mac OS X: /Library/Nessus/run/var/nessus/tmp/

Windows: C:\ProgramData\Tenable\Nessus\tmp

3. Two files are created in the temporary directory. In the example demonstrated in the above
image, cert_sylvester.pem and key_sylvester.pem were created. These two files must be
combined and exported into a format that may be imported into the web browser such as .pfx.
This may be accomplished with the openssl program and the following command:

#
#openssl pkcs12 -export -out combined_sylvester.pfx -inkey key_sylvester.pem -
in cert_sylvester.pem -chain -CAfile /opt/nessus/com/nessus/CA/cacert.pem -
passout 'pass:password' -name 'Nessus User Certificate for: sylvester'

The resulting file combined sylvester.pfx will be created in the directory from which the com-
mand is launched. This file must then be imported into the web browser’s personal certificate store.

Once the CAcert has been created for the smart card, CAC, or similar device, you must create cor-
responding Nessus users. During this process, the users created must match the CN used on the card
that the user will use to connect.

1. On the Nessus server, run the nessus-mkcert-client command.

Linux
# /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli mkcert-client

Windows (Run as a local Administrator user):

C:\> cd C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus\

C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus> nessuscli.exe mkcert-client

2. Fill in the fields as prompted. The process is identical on a Linux or Windows server. The user
name must match the CN supplied by the certificate on the card.

Tip: Client certificates are created in a randomized temporary directory appropriate to the sys-
tem. The temporary directory will be identified on the line beginning with "Your client certificates
are in". For the use of card authentication, these certificates are not needed and may be deleted.

Once created, a user with the proper card may access the Nessus server and authenticate auto-
matically once their PIN or similar secret is provided.

The following information is provided with the understanding that your browser is configured for SSL
certificate authentication. This includes the proper trust of the CA by the web browser. Please refer to
your browser’s help files or other documentation to configure this feature.

The process for certificate login begins when a user connects to Nessus.

Steps
1. Launch a browser and navigate to the Nessus server.

2. The browser will present a list of available certificate identities to select from:

3. Once a certificate has been selected, a prompt for the PIN or password for the certificate is
presented (if required) to access your certificate. When the PIN or password is successfully
entered, the certificate will be available for the current session with Nessus.

Note: If you log out of the session, you will be presented with the standard Nessus login screen.
If you wish to log in again with the same certificate, refresh your browser. If you need to use a dif-
ferent certificate, you must restart your browser session.

Before You Begin

This section applies to Linux and Network Devices

This section is intended to provide a high-level procedure for enabling SSH between the systems
involved in the Nessus credentialed checks. It is not intended to be an in-depth tutorial on SSH. It is
assumed the reader has the prerequisite knowledge of Linux system commands.

Generate SSH Public and Private Keys

The first step is to generate a private/public key pair for the Nessus scanner to use.

This key pair can be generated from any of your Linux systems, using any user account. However, it is
important that the keys be owned by the defined Nessus user.

To generate the key pair, use ssh-keygen and save the key in a safe place. In the following example the
keys are generated on a Red Hat ES 3 installation.

# ssh-keygen -t dsa

Generating public/private dsa key pair.

Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/test/.ssh/id_dsa):
/home/test/Nessus/ssh_key
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in
/home/test/Nessus/ssh_key.
Your public key has been saved in
/home/test/Nessus/ssh_key.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
06:4a:fd:76:ee:0f:d4:e6:4b:74:84:9a:99:e6:12:ea
#

Do not transfer the private key to any system other than the one running the Nessus server. When ssh-
keygen asks you for a passphrase, enter a strong passphrase or hit the Return key twice (i.e., do not
set any passphrase). If a passphrase is specified, it must be specified in the Policies → Credentials →
SSH settings options in order for Nessus to use key-based authentication.

Create a User Account and Setting up the SSH Key

On every target system to be scanned using local security checks, create a new user account dedicated
to Nessus. This user account must have exactly the same name on all systems. For this document, we
will call the user nessus, but you can use any name.

Once the account is created for the user, make sure that the account has no valid password set. On
Linux systems, new user accounts are locked by default, unless an initial password was explicitly set. If
you are using an account where a password had been set, use the passwd –l command to lock the
account.

You must also create the directory under this new account’s home directory to hold the public key. For
this exercise, the directory will be /home/nessus/.ssh. An example for Linux systems is provided
below:

# passwd –l nessus
# cd /home/nessus
# mkdir .ssh
#

For Solaris 10 systems, Sun has enhanced the passwd(1) command to distinguish between locked and
non-login accounts. This is to ensure that a user account that has been locked may not be used to
execute commands (e.g., cron jobs). Non-login accounts are used only to execute commands and do
not support an interactive login session. These accounts have the NP token in the password field of
/etc/shadow. To set a non-login account and create the SSH public key directory in Solaris 10, run the
following commands:

# passwd –N nessus
# grep nessus /etc/shadow
nessus:NP:13579::::::
# cd /export/home/nessus
# mkdir .ssh`
#

Now that the user account is created, you must transfer the key to the system, place it in the appro-
priate directory and set the correct permissions.

# scp ssh_key.pub [email protected]:/home/nessus/.ssh/authorized_keys

You can also copy the file from the system on which Nessus is installed using the secure FTP com-
mand, sftp. Note that the file on the target system must be named authorized_keys.

Note: Do not use the no-pty option in your authorized_keys file for SSH authentication. This can
impact the SSH credentialed scans.

Return to the System Housing the Public Key

Set the permissions on both the /home/nessus/.ssh directory, as well as the authorized_keys file.

# chown -R nessus:nessus ~nessus/.ssh/

# chmod 0600 ~nessus/.ssh/authorized_keys
# chmod 0700 ~nessus/.ssh/`
#

Repeat this process on all systems that will be tested for SSH checks (starting at Creating a User
Account and Setting up the SSH Key above).

Test to make sure that the accounts and networks are configured correctly. Using the simple Linux
command id, from the Nessus scanner, run the following command:

# ssh -i /home/test/nessus/ssh_key [email protected] id

uid=252(nessus) gid=250(tns) groups=250(tns)
#

If it successfully returns information about the nessus user, the key exchange was successful.

Enable SSH Local Security Checks on Network Devices

In addition to using SSH for local security checks, Nessus also supports local security checks on vari-
ous network devices. Those network devices currently include Cisco IOS devices, F5 networks devices,
Huawei devices, Junos devices, and Palo Alto Networks devices.

See your appropriate network device manual for configuring SSH support.

From time to time, you may have cause to manage your Activation Code.

The following topics include instructions to:

l View Your Activation Code

l Reset Activation Code

l Update Activation Code

If you are using Nessus offline, see Manage Nessus Offline.

View on the Support Portal

1. Navigate and log in to the Tenable Support Portal.

2. In the Main Menu of the support portal, select the Activation Codes.

3. Next to your product name, select the x button to expand the product details.

View from Command Line

Use the nessuscli fetch --code-in-use command specific to your operating system.

Platform Command

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --code-in-use

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --code-in-use

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli fetch --code-in-use

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe fetch --code-in-

use

If you uninstall, and then you reinstall Nessus, you will need to reset your activation code.

1. Navigate and log in to the Tenable Support Portal.

2. In the Main Menu of the support portal, select Activation Codes .

3. Next to your product name, select the x button to expand the product details.

4. Under the Reset column, select X button.

Once reset, your activation code is available for use.

Note: Reset codes have a 10 day waiting period before you can reset your code again.

In the event that you receive a new license with a corresponding activation code, you must register the
new activation code in Nessus using either of the methods outlined below.

Note: If you are working with Nessus offline, see Manage Nessus Offline.

Update Nessus in the UI

1. In Nessus, select the button (System Settings page).

2. Select the button next to the Activation Code.

3. On the Update Activation screen, select your Registration type.

4. Enter the new Activation Code.

5. Select Save.

Next, Nessus downloads and installs the Nessus engine and the latest Nessus plugins.

Once the download process is complete, Nessus restarts, and then prompts you to log in again.

Nessus updates with the new licensing information.

Update Nessus via Command Line

1. On the system running Nessus, open a command prompt.

2. Run the nessuscli fetch --register <Activation Code> command specific to your operating sys-
tem.

Platform Command

Linux # /opt/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

FreeBSD # /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

Mac OS X # /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/nessuscli fetch --register xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx

Windows C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus>nessuscli.exe fetch --register xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-

xxxx

If your license changes, Nessus must be updated.

If your Nessus server has connectivity to the Internet, you will be able to follow the Update Activation
Code steps.

If for security purposes your installation of Nessus does not have connectivity to the Internet, see Man-
age Nessus Offline.

In addition to remote scanning, Nessus can be used to scan for local exposures.

Purpose
External network vulnerability scanning is useful to obtain a snapshot in time of the network services
offered and the vulnerabilities they may contain. However, it is only an external perspective. It is
important to determine what local services are running and to identify security exposures from local
attacks or configuration settings that could expose the system to external attacks that may not be
detected from an external scan.

In a typical network vulnerability assessment, a remote scan is performed against the external points
of presence and an onsite scan is performed from within the network. Neither of these scans can
determine local exposures on the target system. Some of the information gained relies on the banner
information displayed, which may be inconclusive or incorrect. By using secured credentials, the Nes-
sus scanner can be granted local access to scan the target system without requiring an agent. This can
facilitate scanning of a very large network to determine local exposures or compliance violations.

The most common security problem in an organization is that security patches are not applied in a
timely manner. A Nessus credentialed scan can quickly determine which systems are out of date on
patch installation. This is especially important when a new vulnerability is made public and executive
management wants a quick answer regarding the impact to the organization.

Another major concern for organizations is to determine compliance with site policy, industry stand-
ards (such as the Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmarks) or legislation (such as Sarbanes-Oxley,
Gramm-Leach-Bliley or HIPAA). Organizations that accept credit card information must demonstrate
compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards. There have been quite a few well-pub-
licized cases where the credit card information for millions of customers was breached. This rep-
resents a significant financial loss to the banks responsible for covering the payments and heavy fines
or loss of credit card acceptance capabilities by the breached merchant or processor.

Access Level
Credentialed scans can perform any operation that a local user can perform. The level of scanning is
dependant on the privileges granted to the user account that Nessus is configured to use.

Non-privileged users with local access on Unix systems can determine basic security issues, such as
patch levels or entries in the /etc/passwd file. For more comprehensive information, such as system
configuration data or file permissions across the entire system, an account with “root” privileges is
required.

Copyright 2017 - 2018 Tenable, Inc. All rights reserved. Tenable Network Security, Nessus, SecurityCenter, SecurityCenter Continuous View and Log Correlation Engine are registered trademarks of Ten-
able, Inc. Tenable, Tenable.io, Assure, and The Cyber Exposure Company are trademarks of Tenable, Inc. All other products or services are trademarks of their respective owners.
- 336 -
Credentialed scans on Windows systems require that an administrator level account be used. Several
bulletins and software updates by Microsoft have made reading the registry to determine software
patch level unreliable without administrator privileges. Administrative access is required to perform
direct reading of the file system. This allows Nessus to attach to a computer and perform direct file
analysis to determine the true patch level of the systems being evaluated. On Windows XP Pro, this file
access will only work with a local administrator account if the “Network access: Sharing and security
model for local accounts” policy is changed to “Classic – local users authenticate as themselves”.

Detecting When Credentials Fail

If you are using Nessus to perform credentialed audits of Unix or Windows systems, analyzing the res-
ults to determine if you had the correct passwords and SSH keys can be difficult. You can detect if your
credentials are not working using plugin 21745.

This plugin detects if either SSH or Windows credentials did not allow the scan to log into the remote
host. When a login is successful, this plugin does not produce a result.

The process described in this section enables you to perform local security checks on Windows sys-
tems.

Note: Only Domain Administrator accounts can be used to scan Domain Controllers.

Configure a Domain Account for Authenticated Scanning

To create a domain account for remote host-based auditing of a Windows server, the server must first
be Windows Server 2008, Server 2008 R2*, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Win-
dows 10 and must be part of a domain.

Create a Security Group called Nessus Local Access

1. Log onto a Domain Controller and open Active Directory Users and Computers.

2. Create a security group by selecting Action → New → Group.

3. Name the group Nessus Local Access. Make sure it has a Scope of Global and a Type of
Security.

4. Add the account you will use to perform Nessus Windows Authenticated Scans to the Nessus
Local Access group.

Create Group Policy called Local Admin GPO

1. Open the Group Policy Management Console.

2. Right-click Group Policy Objects and select New.

3. Type the name of the policy Nessus Scan GPO.

Add the Nessus Local Access group to the Nessus Scan GPO
1. Right-click Nessus Scan GPO Policy, then select Edit.

2. Expand Computer configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Security Settings >
Restricted Groups.

4. In the Add Group dialog box, select browse and enter Nessus Local Access.

5. Select Check Names.

6. Select OK twice to close the dialog box.

7. Select Add under This group is a member of:

8. Add the Administrators Group.

9. Select OK twice.

Nessus uses SMB (Server Message Block) and WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) for this we
need to make sure that the Windows Firewall will allow access to the system.

Allow WMI on Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10, 2008, 2008R2 and 2012 Win-
dows Firewall
1. Right-click Nessus Scan GPO Policy, then select Edit.

2. Expand Computer configuration > Policies > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Win-
dows Firewall with Advanced Security > Windows Firewall with Advanced Security >
Inbound Rules.

3. Right-click in the working area and choose New Rule...

4. Choose the Predefined option, and select Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
from the drop-down list.

5. Select Next.

6. Select the check boxes for:

l Windows Management Instrumentation (ASync-In)

l Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI-In)

l Windows Management Instrumentation (DCOM-In)

7. Select Next.

8. Select Finish.

Link the GPO

1. In Group policy management console, right-click the domain or the OU and select Link an Exist-
ing GPO.

2. Select the Nessus Scan GPO.

Configure Windows 2008, Vista, 7, 8, and 10

1. Under Windows Firewall → Windows Firewall Settings, File and Printer Sharing must be enabled.

2. Using the gpedit.msc tool (via the Run.. prompt), invoke the Group Policy Object Editor. Nav-
igate to Local Computer Policy > Administrative Templates > Network > Network Con-
nections > Windows Firewall > Standard Profile > Windows Firewall : Allow inbound file
and printer exception, and enable it.

3. While in the Group Policy Object Editor, navigate to Local Computer Policy > Administrative
Templates > Network > Network Connections > Prohibit use of Internet connection fire-
wall on your DNS domain and ensure it is set to either Disabled or Not Configured.

4. The Remote Registry service must be enabled (it is disabled by default). It can be enabled
manually for continuing audits, either by an administrator or by Nessus. Using plugin IDs 42897
and 42898, Nessus can enable the service just for the duration of the scan.

Note: Enabling this option configures Nessus to attempt to start the remote registry service prior to
starting the scan.
The Windows credentials provided in the Nessus scan policy must have administrative permissions to
start the Remote Registry service on the host being scanned.

Caution: While not recommended, Windows User Account Control (UAC) can be disabled.

Tip: To turn off UAC completely, open the Control Panel, select User Accounts and then set Turn User
Account Control to off. Alternatively, you can add a new registry key named LocalAc-
countTokenFilterPolicy and set its value to 1.

A very common mistake is to create a local account that does not have enough privileges to log on
remotely and do anything useful. By default, Windows will assign new local accounts Guest privileges if
they are logged into remotely. This prevents remote vulnerability audits from succeeding. Another com-
mon mistake is to increase the amount of access that the Guest users obtain. This reduces the security
of your Windows server.

The most important aspect about Windows credentials is that the account used to perform the checks
should have privileges to access all required files and registry entries, and in many cases this means
administrative privileges. If Nessus is not provided the credentials for an administrative account, at
best it can be used to perform registry checks for the patches. While this is still a valid method to
determine if a patch is installed, it is incompatible with some third party patch management tools that
may neglect to set the key in the policy. If Nessus has administrative privileges, then it will actually
check the version of the dynamic-link library (.dll) on the remote host, which is considerably more
accurate.

Configure a Local Account

To configure a stand-alone Windows server with credentials to be used that is not part of a domain,
simply create a unique account as the administrator.

Make sure that the configuration of this account is not set with a typical default of Guest only: local
users authenticate as guest. Instead, switch this to Classic: local users authenticate as them-
selves.

Configuring a Domain Account for Local Audits

To create a domain account for remote host-based auditing of a Windows server, the server must first
be Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP Pro, or Windows 2008 Server and be part of a domain.

To configure the server to allow logins from a domain account, you should use the Classic security
model. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open the Start menu and select Run.

2. Enter gpedit.msc and select OK.

3. Select Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies >
Security Options.

4. In the list, select Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts.

The Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts window appears.

5. In the Local Security Setting section, in the drop-down box, select Classic - local users authen-

6. Select OK.

This will cause users local to the domain to authenticate as themselves, even though they are not phys-
ically local on the particular server. Without doing this, all remote users, even real users in the domain,
will authenticate as a guest and will likely not have enough credentials to perform a remote audit.

Configuring Windows XP
When performing authenticated scans against Windows XP systems, there are several configuration
options that must be enabled:

l The WMI service must be enabled on the target.

l The Remote Registry service must be enabled on the target.

l File & Printer Sharing must be enabled in the target’s network configuration.

l Ports 139 and 445 must be open between the Nessus scanner and the target.

l An SMB account must be used that has local administrator rights on the target.

You may be required to change the Windows local security policies or they could block access or inher-
ent permissions. A common policy that will affect credentialed scans is found under:

Administrative Tools --> Local Security Policy --> Security Settings -- >
Local Policies --> Security Options --> Network access: Sharing and security
model for local accounts.

If this local security policy is set to something other than Classic - local users authenticate as
themselves, a compliance scan will not run successfully.

Configuring Windows Server, 2010, 2008, Vista, and 7

When performing authenticated scans against Windows 2008 systems, there are several configuration
options that must be enabled:

l Under Windows Firewall -> Windows Firewall Settings, File and Printer Sharing must be
enabled.

l Using the gpedit.msc tool (via the “Run..” prompt), enable the Group Policy Object Editor. Nav-
igate to Local Computer Policy > Administrative Templates > Network > Network Con-

l While in the Group Policy Object Editor, navigate to Local Computer Policy > Administrative
Templates > Network > Network Connections > Prohibit use of Internet connection fire-
wall on your DNS domain. This option must be set to either Disabled or Not Configured.

l Windows User Account Control (UAC) must be disabled, or a specific registry setting must be
changed to allow Nessus audits. To turn off UAC completely, open the Control Panel, select User
Accounts and then set Turn User Account Control to Off. Alternatively, you can add a new
registry DWORD named LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy and set its value to “1”. This key must
be created in the registry at the following location: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Mi-
crosoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system\LocalAcc oun-
tTokenFilterPolicy. For more information on this registry setting, consult the MSDN 766945
KB.

l The Remote Registry service must be enabled (it is disabled by default). It can be enabled for a
one-time audit, or left enabled permanently if frequent audits are performed.

Nessus Web Interface

In the Scan Credential Settings section, select Windows. Specify the SMB account name, password and
optional domain, then select Submit. The new scan policy will be added to the list of managed scan
policies.

The process described in this section enables you to perform local security checks on Unix based sys-
tems. The SSH daemon used in this example is OpenSSH. If you have a commercial variant of SSH, your
procedure may be slightly different.

To enable local security checks, there are two basic methods that can be used:

1. Use of a SSH private/public key pair

2. User credentials and sudo access or credentials for su access

Configuration Requirements for SSH

Nessus supports the blowfish-cbc, aesXXX-cbc (aes128, aes192 and aes256), 3des-cbc and aes-ctr
algorithms.

Some commercial variants of SSH do not have support for the blowfish cipher, possibly for export reas-
ons. It is also possible to configure an SSH server to only accept certain types of encryption. Check that
your SSH server supports the correct algorithm.

User Privileges
For maximum effectiveness, the SSH user must have the ability to run any command on the system. On
Unix systems, this is known as “root” privileges. While it is possible to run some checks (such as patch
levels) with non-privileged access, full compliance checks that audit system configuration and file per-
missions require root access. For this reason, it is strongly recommended that SSH keys be used
instead of credentials when possible.

Configuration Requirements for Kerberos

This section is intended to provide a high-level procedure for enabling SSH between the systems
involved in the Nessus credential checks. It is not intended to be an in-depth tutorial on SSH. It is
assumed the reader has the prerequisite knowledge of Unix system commands.

Generating SSH Public and Private Keys

The first step is to generate a private/public key pair for the Nessus scanner to use. This key pair can
be generated from any of your Unix systems, using any user account. However, it is important that the
keys be owned by the defined Nessus user.

To generate the key pair, use ssh-keygen and save the key in a safe place. In the following example
the keys are generated on a Red Hat ES 3 installation.

# ssh-keygen -t dsa
Generating public/private dsa key pair.
Enter file in which to save the key (/Users/test/.ssh/id_dsa):
/home/test/Nessus/ssh_key
Enter passphrase (empty for no passphrase):
Enter same passphrase again:
Your identification has been saved in
/home/test/Nessus/ssh_key.
Your public key has been saved in
/home/test/Nessus/ssh_key.pub.
The key fingerprint is:
06:4a:fd:76:ee:0f:d4:e6:4b:74:84:9a:99:e6:12:ea
#

Do not transfer the private key to any system other than the one running the Nessus server. When
ssh-keygen asks you for a passphrase, enter a strong pass phrase or hit the “Return” key twice (i.e.,
do not set any passphrase). If a pass phrase is specified, it must be specified in the Policies -> Cre-
dentials -> SSH settings options in order for Nessus to use key-based authentication.

Nessus Windows users may wish to copy both keys to the main Nessus application directory on the sys-
tem running Nessus (C:\Program Files\Tenable\Nessus by default), and then copy the public
key to the target systems as needed. This makes it easier to manage the public and private key files.

Creating a User Account and Setting up the SSH Key

# passwd –l nessus
# cd /home/nessus
# mkdir .ssh
#

For Solaris 10 systems, Sun has enhanced the “passwd(1)” command to distinguish between locked
and non-login accounts. This is to ensure that a user account that has been locked may not be used to
execute commands (e.g., cron jobs). Non-login accounts are used only to execute commands and do
not support an interactive login session. These accounts have the “NP” token in the password field of
/etc/shadow. To set a non-login account and create the SSH public key directory in Solaris 10, run
the following commands:

# passwd –N nessus
# grep nessus /etc/shadow
nessus:NP:13579::::::
# cd /export/home/nessus
# mkdir .ssh
#

Now that the user account is created, you must transfer the key to the system, place it in the appro-
priate directory and set the correct permissions.

Example
From the system containing the keys, secure copy the public key to system that will be scanned for
host checks as shown below. 192.1.1.44 is an example remote system that will be tested with the host-
based checks.

You can also copy the file from the system on which Nessus is installed using the secure ftp command,
“sftp”. Note that the file on the target system must be named “authorized_keys”.

Return to the System Housing the Public Key

Set the permissions on both the /home/nessus/.ssh directory, as well as the authorized_keys
file.

# chown -R nessus:nessus ~nessus/.ssh/

# chmod 0600 ~nessus/.ssh/authorized_keys
# chmod 0700 ~nessus/.ssh/
#

Repeat this process on all systems that will be tested for SSH checks (starting at “Creating a User
Account and Setting up the SSH Key” above).

Test to make sure that the accounts and networks are configured correctly. Using the simple Unix com-
mand “id”, from the Nessus scanner, run the following command:

# ssh -i /home/test/nessus/ssh_key [email protected] id

uid=252(nessus) gid=250(tns) groups=250(tns)
#

If it successfully returns information about the Nessus user, the key exchange was successful.

If you have not already done so, secure copy the private and public key files to the system that you will
use to access the Nessus scanner.

Nessus Web Interface Steps

In the Scan Credential Settings section, select SSH.

l If an SSH known_hosts file is available and provided as part of the scan policy in the known_
hosts file box, Nessus will only attempt to log into hosts in this file. This can ensure that the
same username and password you are using to audit your known SSH servers is not used to
attempt a login to a system that may not be under your control.

l In the Username box, enter the name of the account that is dedicated to Nessus on each of the
scan target systems.

l If you are using a password for SSH, enter it in the Password box.

l In the Private Key box, locate the private key file on your local system.

l If you are using a passphrase for the SSH key (optional), enter it in the Private key passphrase
box.

l Nessus and SecurityCenter users can additionally use “su” or “sudo” in the Elevate privileges
with box and a separate password.

The most effective credentialed scans are those when the supplied credentials have “root” privileges.
Since many sites do not permit a remote login as root, Nessus users can invoke “su” or “sudo” with a
separate password for an account that has been set up to have “su” or “sudo” privileges.

When you are working with Nessus offline, you will use the https://plu-
gins.nessus.org/v2/offline.php page.

Based the steps you are using to Manage Nessus Offline, the resulting web page displayed includes
the following elements:

l Custom URL: The custom URL displayed downloads a compressed plugins file. This file is used
by Nessus to obtain plugin information. This URL is specific to your Nessus license and must be
saved and used each time plugins need to be updated.

l License: The complete text-string starting with -----BEGIN Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- and
ends with -----END Tenable, Inc. LICENSE----- is your Nessus product license information.
Tenable uses this text-string to confirm your product license and registration.

l nessus.license file: At the bottom of the web page, there is an embedded file that includes
license text-string displayed.

Approved Scanning Vendors (ASVs) are organizations that validate adherence to certain DSS require-
ments by performing vulnerability scans of Internet facing environments of merchants and service pro-
viders.

Tenable, Inc. is a PCI Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV), and is certified to validate vulnerability scans of
Internet-facing systems for adherence to certain aspects of the PCI Data Security Standards (PCI DSS)
and Tenable.io is a validated Approved Scanning Vendor (ASV) solution.

Nessus Professional and Nessus Manager features 2 PCI related scan templates:

Internal PCI Network Scan

This template creates scans that may be used to satisfy internal (PCI DSS 11.2.1) scanning requirements
for ongoing vulnerability management programs that satisfy PCI compliance requirements. These
scans may be used for ongoing vulnerability management and to perform rescans until passing or
clean results are achieved. Credentials can optionally be provided to enumerate missing patches and
cilent-side vulnerabilities.

Note: while the PCI DSS requires you to provide evidence of passing or "clean" scans on at least a
quarterly basis, you are also required to perform scans after any significant changes to your network
(PCI DSS 11.2.3).

Unofficial PCI Quarterly External Scan

The Unofficial PCI Quarterly External Scan template creates a scan that simulates an external scan
(PCI DSS 11.2.2) performed by Tenable.io to meet PCI DSS quarterly scanning requirements. Although
the results may not be submitted for validation, they may be used to see what "official" Tenable.io
results might look like. Users that have external PCI scanning requirements should use this template in
Tenable.io, which allows scanning unlimited times before submitting results to Tenable, Inc. for val-
idation (Tenable.io is a validated ASV solution).

For more information on performing and submitting an official PCI Quarterly External Scan, see the
Tenable.io User Guide.

Submit Scan Results

Only Tenable.io customers have the option to submit their PCI scan results to Tenable, Inc. for PCI ASV
validation.

Nessus 6.7 and later has the ability to run as a non-privileged user.

Limitations
l When scanning localhost, Nessus plugins assume that they are running as root. Therefore, cer-
tain types of scans may fail. For example, because Nessus is now running as a non-privileged
user, file content Compliance Audits may fail or return erroneous results since the plugins are
not able to access all directories.

l nessuscli does not have a --no-root mode. Running commands with nessuscli as root could
potentially create files in the Nessus install directory owned by root, which can prohibit Nessus
from accessing them successfully. Use care when running nessuscli, and potentially fix per-
missions with chown after using it.

Limitations
l For use with Nessus 6.7 or later.

l When scanning localhost, Nessus plugins assume that they are running as root. Therefore, cer-
tain types of scans may fail. For example, because Nessus is now running as a non-privileged
user, file content Compliance Audits may fail or return erroneous results since the plugins are
not able to access all directories.

Steps
1. If you have not already, perform a Nessus Linux Install.

2. Create a non-root account to run the Nessus service.

sudo useradd -r nonprivuser

3. Remove 'world' permissions on Nessus binaries in the /sbin directory.

sudo chmod 750 /opt/nessus/sbin/*

4. Change ownership of /opt/nessus to the non-root user.

sudo chown nonprivuser:nonprivuser -R /opt/nessus

5. Set capabilities on nessusd and nessus-service.

Tip: cap_net_admin is used to put interface in promiscuous mode.

cap_net_raw is used to create raw sockets for packet forgery.
cap_sys_resource is used to set resource limits.

sudo setcap "cap_sys_resource+eip" /opt/nessus/sbin/nessusd

sudo setcap "cap_sys_resource+eip" /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service

If you want this instance of Nessus to perform scans, you need to add additional permissions to
allow packet forgery and enabling promiscuous mode on the interface.

sudo setcap "cap_net_admin,cap_net_raw,cap_sys_resource+eip"

/opt/nessus/sbin/nessusd
sudo setcap "cap_net_admin,cap_net_raw,cap_sys_resource+eip"
/opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service

6. Remove and add the following lines to the /usr/lib/systemd/system/nessusd.service

script:

l Remove: ExecStart=/opt/nessus_pr/sbin/nessus-service -q

l Add: ExecStart=/opt/nessus_pr/sbin/nessus-service -q --no-root

l Add: User=nonprivuser

The resulting script should appear as follows:

[Service]
Type=simple
PIDFile=/opt/nessus_pr/var/nessus/nessus-service.pid
ExecStart=/opt/nessus_pr/sbin/nessus-service -q --no-root
Restart=on-abort
ExecReload=/usr/bin/pkill nessusd
EnvironmentFile=-/etc/sysconfig/nessusd
User=nonprivuser

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

7. Reload and start nessusd.

In this step, Nessus restarts as root, but systemd starts it as nonprivuser.

Limitations
These steps are for use with Nessus 6.7 or later.

When scanning localhost, Nessus plugins assume that they are running as root. Therefore, certain
types of scans may fail. For example, because Nessus is now running as a non-privileged user, file con-
tent Compliance Audits may fail or return erroneous results since the plugins are not able to access all
directories.

Because nessuscli does not have a --no-root mode, running commands with nessuscli as root
could potentially create files in the Nessus install directory owned by root, which can prohibit Nessus
from accessing them successfully. Use care when running nessuscli, and potentially fix permissions
with chown after using it.

Steps
1. If you have not already, perform a Nessus Linux Install.

2. Create a non-root account to run the Nessus service.

sudo useradd -r nonprivuser

3. Remove 'world' permissions on Nessus binaries in the /sbin directory.

sudo chmod 750 /opt/nessus/sbin/*

4. Change ownership of /opt/nessus to the non-root user.

sudo chown nonprivuser:nonprivuser -R /opt/nessus

5. Set capabilities on nessusd and nessus-service.

Tip:
cap_net_admin is used to put the interface in promiscuous mode.

If this is only a manager, and you do not want this instance of Nessus install to perform scans,
you need to provide it only with the capability to change its resource limits.

sudo setcap "cap_sys_resource+eip" /opt/nessus/sbin/nessusd

sudo setcap "cap_sys_resource+eip" /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service

If you want this instance of Nessus to perform scans, you need to add additional permissions to
allow packet forgery and enabling promiscuous mode on the interface.

sudo setcap "cap_net_admin,cap_net_raw,cap_sys_resource+eip"

/opt/nessus/sbin/nessusd
sudo setcap "cap_net_admin,cap_net_raw,cap_sys_resource+eip"
/opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service

6. Remove and add the following lines to the /etc/init.d/nessusd script:

Remove: /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q -D

Add: daemon --user=nonprivuser /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q -D --no-

root

The resulting script should appear as follows:

start() {
KIND="$NESSUS_NAME"
echo -n $"Starting $NESSUS_NAME : "
daemon --user=nonprivuser /opt/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -q -D --no-root
echo "."
return 0
}

7. Start nessusd.

In this step, Nessus starts as root, but init.d starts it as nonprivuser.

sudo service nessusd start

Limitations
l For use with Nessus 6.7 or later.

l nessuscli does not have a --no-root mode. Running commands with nessuscli as root could
potentially create files in the Nessus install directory owned by root, which could cause Nessus
to be unable to access them appropriately. Use care when running nessuscli, and potentially fix
permissions with chown after using it.

Steps
1. If you have not already done so, Install Nessus on MacOSX.

2. Since the Nessus service is running as root, it needs to be unloaded.

Use the following command to unload the Nessus service:

sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDae-

mons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusd.plist

3. On the Mac, in System Preferences -> Users & Groups, create a new Group..

6. Remove 'world' permissions on Nessus binaries in the /sbin directory.

sudo chmod 750 /Library/Nessus/run/sbin/*

7. Change ownership of /Library/Nessus/run directory to the non-root (Standard) user you cre-
ated in Step 2.

sudo chown -R nonprivuser:nonprivuser /Library/Nessus/run

8. Give that user read/write permissions to the /dev/bpf* devices. A simple way to do this is to
install Wireshark, which creates a group called "access_bpf", as well as a corresponding launch
daemon to set appropriate permissions on /dev/bpf* at startup. In this case, you can simply
assign the "nonpriv" user to be in the "access_bpf" group. Otherwise, you will need to create a
launch daemon giving the "nonpriv" user, or a group that it is a part of, read/write permissions
to all /dev/bpf*.

9. For Step 8. changes to take effect, reboot your system.

<string>--no-root</string>
<key>UserName</key>
<string>nonprivuser</string>

11. Using sysctl, verify the following parameters have the minimum values:

$ sysctl debug.bpf_maxdevices
debug.bpf_maxdevices: 16384
$ sysctl kern.maxfiles
kern.maxfiles: 12288
$ sysctl kern.maxfilesperproc
kern.maxfilesperproc: 12288
$ sysctl kern.maxproc
kern.maxproc: 1064
$ sysctl kern.maxprocperuid
kern.maxprocperuid: 1064

Create a file called /etc/sysctl.conf.

Using the a text editor, edit the systctl.conf file with the correct values found in Step 9.

Example:

$ cat /etc/sysctl.conf
kern.maxfilesperproc=12288
kern.maxproc=1064
kern.maxprocperuid=1064

13. Next, using the launchctl limit command, verify your OS default values.
Example: MacOSX 10.10 and 10.11 values.

$ launchctl limit
cpu unlimited unlimited
filesize unlimited unlimited
data unlimited unlimited
stack 8388608 67104768
core 0 unlimited
rss unlimited unlimited
memlock unlimited unlimited
maxproc 709 1064
maxfiles 256 unlimited

14. If any of the values in Step 11. are not set to the default OSX values above, take the following
steps to modify values.

Using the a text editor, edit the launchd.conf file with the correct, default values as shown in
Step 11.

Example:

$ cat /etc/launchd.conf
limit maxproc 709 1064

15. For all changes to take effect either reboot your system or reload the launch daemon.

sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDae-

mons/com.tenablesecurity.nessusd.plist

Run Nessus on FreeBSD as a non-privileged User

Limitations
l For use with Nessus 6.7 or later.

Note: Unless otherwise noted, execute the following commands in a root login shell.

1. If you have not already done so, Install Nessus on FreeBSD.

pkg add Nessus-*.txz

2. Create a non-root account which will run the Nessus service.

In this example, nonprivuser is created in the nonprivgroup.

# adduser
Username: nonprivuser
Full name: NonPrivUser

Copyright 2017 - 2018 Tenable, Inc. All rights reserved. Tenable Network Security, Nessus, SecurityCenter, SecurityCenter Continuous View and Log Correlation Engine are registered trademarks of Ten-
able, Inc. Tenable, Tenable.io, Assure, and The Cyber Exposure Company are trademarks of Tenable, Inc. All other products or services are trademarks of their respective owners.
- 368 -
Uid (Leave empty for default):
Login group [nonprivuser]:
Login group is nonprivuser. Invite nonprivuser into other groups?
[]:
Login class [default]:
Shell (sh csh tcsh bash rbash nologin) [sh]:
Home directory [/home/nonprivuser]:
Home directory permissions (Leave empty for default):
Use password-based authentication? [yes]:
Use an empty password? (yes/no) [no]:
Use a random password? (yes/no) [no]:
Enter password:
Enter password again:
Lock out the account after creation? [no]:
Username : nonprivuser
Password : *****
Full Name : NonPrivUser
Uid : 1003
Class :
Groups : nonprivuser
Home : /home/nonprivuser
Home Mode :
Shell : /bin/sh
Locked : no
OK? (yes/no): yes
adduser: INFO: Successfully added (nonprivuser) to the user
database.
Add another user? (yes/no): no
Goodbye!

3. Remove 'world' permissions on Nessus binaries in the /sbin directory.

chmod 750 /usr/local/nessus/sbin/*

chown -R nonprivuser:nonprivuser /usr/local/nessus

5. Create a group to give the non-root user access to the /dev/bpf device and allow them to use
raw sockets.

pw groupadd access_bpf
pw groupmod access_bpf -m nonprivuser

6. Confirm the nonprivuser was added to the group.

# pw groupshow access_bpf
access_bpf:*:1003:nonprivuser

7. Next, check your system limit values.

Using the ulimit -a command, verify that each parameter has, at minimum, the following values.
This example displays FreeBSD 10 values:

# ulimit -a
cpu time (seconds, -t) unlimited
file size (512-blocks, -f) unlimited
data seg size (kbytes, -d) 33554432
stack size (kbytes, -s) 524288
core file size (512-blocks, -c) unlimited
max memory size (kbytes, -m) unlimited
locked memory (kbytes, -l) unlimited
max user processes (-u) 6670
open files (-n) 58329
virtual mem size (kbytes, -v) unlimited
swap limit (kbytes, -w) unlimited
sbsize (bytes, -b) unlimited
pseudo-terminals (-p) unlimited

Using a text editor, edit the /etc/sysctl.conf file.

Next, using the service command, restart the sysctl service:

service sysctl restart

Alternatively, you can reboot your system.

Verify the new, minimum required values by using the ulimit -a command again.

9. Next, using a text editor, modify the /usr/local/etc/rc.d/nessusd service script to remove and
add the following lines:
Remove: /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -D -q
Add: chown root:access_bpf /dev/bpf
Add: chmod 660 /dev/bpf
Add: daemon -u nonprivuser /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -D -q --no-root

The resulting script should appear as follows:

nessusd_start() {
echo 'Starting Nessus...'
chown root:access_bpf /dev/bpf
chmod 660 /dev/bpf
daemon -u nonprivuser /usr/local/nessus/sbin/nessus-service -D -q --no-root
}
nessusd_stop() {
test -f /usr/local/nessus/var/nessus/nessus-service.pid && kill `cat
/usr/local/nessus/var/nessus/nessus-service.pid` && echo 'Stopping Nessus...'
&& sleep 3
}

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