# CVE-2023-2005: Tenable Plugin Feed ID #202306261202 Fixes Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

> A malicious actor with scan target permissions can escalate privileges by placing a binary in a specific location to abuse a Tenable plugin.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 26 Jun 2023
- **Updated:** 3 Dec 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rx3v-c929-952g

## What is CVE-2023-2005?

CVE-2023-2005 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Tenable Nessus, published on 26 Jun 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Vulnerability in Tenable Tenable.Io, Tenable Nessus, Tenable Security Center.This issue affects Tenable.Io: before Plugin Feed ID #202306261202 ; Nessus: before Plugin Feed ID #202306261202 ; Security Center: before Plugin Feed ID #202306261202 .

This vulnerability could allow a malicious actor with sufficient permissions on a scan target to place a binary in a specific filesystem location, and abuse the impacted plugin in order to escalate privileges.

Weakness: CWE-427 (Uncontrolled Search Path Element)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-2005?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Tenable Nessus, Tenable Security Center, Tenable Tenable.io.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-2005?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-2005 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-2005 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-2005 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Tenable Nessus

- [CVE-2022-4313](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4313/): Command injection in Tenable.io, Tenable.sc and Nessus (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-0524](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-0524/): Privilege escalation in Tenable.io, Tenable.sc, Nessus (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-0101](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-0101/): Privilege escalation in Nessus (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-32973](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-32973/): Privilege escalation in Nessus (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2025-36630](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-36630/): Local Privilege Escalation (high 8.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-2005 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-2005 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Tenable Nessus, published on 26 Jun 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-2005 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Tenable Nessus. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2005/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2005/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-2005
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-2005
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-2005

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2005/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.