performing-vulnerability-scanning-with-nessus

name	performing-vulnerability-scanning-with-nessus
description	Use when performing authenticated and unauthenticated vulnerability scanning using Tenable Nessus to identify known vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, default credentials, and missing patches across network infrastructure, servers, and applications. The scanner correlates findings with CVE databases and CVSS scores to produce prioritized remediation guidance. Activates for requests involving vulnerability scanning, Nessus assessment, patch compliance checking, or automated vulnerability dete...
domain	cybersecurity
tags	["vulnerability-scanning","Nessus","CVE","patch-management","Tenable"]
subdomain	penetration-testing
version	1.0.0
author	oyi77
license	Apache-2.0
nist_csf	["ID.RA-01","ID.RA-06","GV.OV-02","DE.AE-07"]

Performing Vulnerability Scanning With Nessus

Overview

Cybersecurity skill for performing vulnerability scanning with nessus. Follows industry best practices and security standards.

When to Use

Trigger phrases:

• "performing vulnerability scanning with nessus"

• "Performs authenticated and unauthenticated vulnerability scanning using Tenable "

• Conducting initial vulnerability assessment during the reconnaissance phase of a penetration test

• Performing periodic vulnerability scans to maintain compliance with PCI-DSS (requirement 11.2), HIPAA, or SOC 2 standards

• Validating that remediation efforts have successfully addressed previously identified vulnerabilities

• Establishing a baseline of known vulnerabilities before targeted manual exploitation

• Auditing patch compliance and configuration drift across server and workstation fleets

Do not use as a substitute for manual penetration testing, against systems without written authorization, or against fragile systems (medical devices, legacy SCADA) where scanning may cause service disruption.

When NOT to Use

• When you lack proper authorization for testing
• For production systems without change management
• When the task requires legal or compliance expertise beyond technical scope

Prerequisites

• Tenable Nessus Professional or Nessus Expert with current plugin updates (plugins should be less than 24 hours old)
• Network connectivity to all target hosts on all ports (no firewall restrictions between scanner and targets)
• Administrative credentials for authenticated scanning (domain admin or local admin for Windows, root/sudo for Linux, SNMP community strings for network devices)
• Target IP ranges and hostnames documented in the scope agreement
• Change management approval for scanning during authorized windows

Workflow

# Example: IOC detection
import re

IOC_PATTERNS = {
    "ip": r"\b(?:\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}\b",
    "domain": r"\b[a-z0-9-]+\.[a-z]{2,}\b",
    "hash_md5": r"\b[a-f0-9]{32}\b",
    "hash_sha256": ,
}

 () -> :
     {k: re.findall(v, text)  k, v  IOC_PATTERNS.items()}