Summary

This update introduces a significant infrastructure enhancement for NASL plugins, enabling support for the HTTP/3 protocol. While the underlying framework now supports HTTP/3, there are currently no plugins that leverage the HTTP/3 protocol. Individual plugins will be updated by Tenable as appropriate to utilize this capability over time.

Change

The core of this update will allow NASL plugins to dynamically negotiate and utilize either HTTP/1 or HTTP/3 for requests. We are releasing http3_detect.nasl (Plugin ID: Pending) as the initial plugin to leverage this new framework, providing the foundation for future protocol-aware detections over UDP.

To utilize HTTP/3, customers must explicitly enable 'UDP port scanning', 'Search for SSL/TLS/DTLS services' and set an appropriate port range in ‘Search for DTLS on’ within their scan policy settings. Care should be taken as UDP port scanning can significantly slow down scans.

Customer Impact

Existing plugins remain unaffected and will continue to operate over HTTP/1 unless specifically updated by the Tenable Research team.

The introduction of http3_detect.nasl serves as the first step in broader protocol support without impacting current scan performance for non-UDP focused scans.

Target Release Date

August 10, 2026