Tenable Research Release Highlight

Nessus Agent Reset Plugin and Scan Template 

Summary 

Tenable Research has released a Credentialed Scan plugin and Scan Template “Nessus 10.8.0 / 10.8.1 Agent Reset” in support of addressing the issues in the Nessus Agent 10.8.0 and 10.8.1.

Change

• New Scan Template: “Nessus 10.8.0 / 10.8.1 Agent Reset”
• Pre-requisite: Ensure that the agent version is set to 10.8.2 or 10.7.x in Agent Profile (for TVM) and Nessus Manager (for TSC).

This Scan Template and Credentialed Scan plugin will run OS specific scripts to remotely reset the agent plugins on Windows, Mac OS or ‘Nix based Nessus Agent host machines on 10.8.0 or 10.8.1. These scripts and the permissions level each script requires are detailed in the Nessus Agent 10.8.2 Release Notes (https://docs.tenable.com/release-notes/Content/nessus-agent/2025.htm#10.8.2) under the [Perform a plugin reset] section. 

Notes:

• The Nessus Agent Reset plugin will only run from the provided Scan Template and will not reset Nessus Agents when run from any other Scan Template. 
• For Ubuntu/Debian Unix credentials, please ensure that only one set of privilege escalation credentials are provided with the required permissions level for the OS script to execute.
• 13 JAN 2025 UPDATE: Please note that triggering a plugin reset will result in a large spike in network traffic.

Impact

Without this script, customers would have to logon to each Nessus Agent host and run the appropriate Nessus Agent Reset script for that host OS. Using this Scan Template and Credentialed Scan plugin, customers can run the Nessus Agent Reset scripts on each updated Nessus Agent from a Remote Credentialed Scan, with the necessary credentials and permissions, using Nessus, Nessus Manager, T.VM, and T.SC (released 08 JAN).

Target Release Date

07 JAN 2025