Is CVE-2021-20079 being actively exploited?

CVE-2021-20079 is not currently listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-20079?

CVE-2021-20079 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.7 (MEDIUM).

CVE-2021-20079

MEDIUM · CVSS 6.7EPSS 0.6%EU EUVD

Nessus versions 8.13.2 and earlier were found to contain a privilege escalation vulnerability which could allow a Nessus administrator user to upload a specially crafted file that could lead to gaining administrator privileges on the Nessus host.

Key facts

CVSS score: 6.7 (v3.1)
Severity: MEDIUM
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS score: 0.6% (48th percentile)
In CISA KEV: No
In EU EUVD: Yes (EUVD-2021-7541)
Published: June 29, 2021
NVD last modified: June 17, 2026
Status: Modified

EU Vulnerability Database (EUVD)

This vulnerability is also tracked by ENISA as EUVD-2021-7541 in the EU Vulnerability Database. Last updated in EUVD on August 3, 2024.

View on the EU Vulnerability Database

Affected products

tenable / nessus

Certified products that may be affected

2 FIPS 140 or Common Criteria certified products, from automated matching by sec-certs.org.

Nessus Manager 8.11.1 - Tenable, Inc. - Common Criteria CCEVS-VR-VID-11067-2020 - archived
Tenable SecurityCenter 4.4 (SC) and Components: 3D Tool 2.0.1 Log Correlation Engine 3.6 (LCE), Passive Vulnerability Scanner 3.6 (PVS), Nessus 5.0.1, and xTool 2.1 - Tenable Network Security, Inc. - Common Criteria CCEVS-VR-VID-10443-2012 - archived

References

https://www.tenable.com/security/tns-2021-07(Third Party Advisory)

Last updated September 17, 2026 · Source: NVD, CISA KEV, FIRST.org EPSS

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