Tenable Calls for Manual Nessus Agent Upgrades Due to Outages

January 8, 2025January 8, 2025

Tenable Urges Customers to Update Nessus Vulnerability Scanner Agents After Outages

Tenable, a leader in vulnerability management, has recently alerted its customers about critical updates needed for their Nessus vulnerability scanner agents. Following extensive outages on December 31 caused by problematic differential plugin updates, users are urged to take action to restore their systems. This issue primarily affected Nessus Agent versions 10.8.0 and 10.8.1, rendering agents offline across multiple regions, including the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

Understanding the Nessus Agent Issue

The outages were a result of flawed updates that disrupted the normal functioning of the Nessus agents. In response, Tenable took immediate action by halting further plugin updates to mitigate the problem. Subsequently, the company released Nessus Agent version 10.8.2 to address these shutdown issues effectively.

Tenable stated:

"To fix the above issue, all Tenable Vulnerability Management and Tenable Security Center customers running Tenable Nessus Agent version 10.8.0 or 10.8.1 must either upgrade to agent version 10.8.2 or downgrade to 10.7.3."

Steps to Resolve the Issue

For affected users, it is crucial to follow these steps:

Upgrade to Version 10.8.2: This is the recommended solution to restore functionality.
Downgrade to Version 10.7.3: If for any reason the upgrade is not feasible, downgrading is a viable alternative.
Reset Agent Profiles: If you are utilizing agent profiles for upgrades or downgrades, ensure to perform a separate plugin reset to recover any offline agents.

Tenable has equipped users with a manual fix through the 10.8.2 install package, which includes a reset script as well as a nessuscli reset command to help restore agent functionality.

Conclusion

The recent disturbances in Nessus vulnerability scanner agents highlight the importance of timely updates in cybersecurity management. Tenable is committed to providing its customers with the necessary tools to maintain operational integrity. For more detailed guidance, visit the official Tenable support page or read about the importance of vulnerability management in today’s digital landscape.

Share Your Thoughts

Have you experienced issues with your Nessus agents? Feel free to share your experiences or check out our related articles on best practices for vulnerability management.

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