When installing Nessus Agent to a non-default location on a Windows host, Nessus Agent versions prior to 10.8.3 did not enforce secure permissions for sub-directories. This could allow for local privilege escalation if users had not secured the directories in the non-default installation location.
Weakness
During installation, installed file permissions are set to allow anyone to modify those files.
Potential Mitigations
- Compartmentalize the system to have “safe” areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
- Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
References