Plan and run authenticated (credentialed) vulnerability scans with scanners such as Nessus, Qualys, OpenVAS, or Rapid7 InsightVM, using SSH, SMB, WinRM, or SNMPv3 credentials to inspect installed software, patches, and configurations on Linux, Windows, and network devices. Use when a scan must catch vulnerabilities unauthenticated scanning misses, or when choosing and managing credential types for a credentialed scan.
Plan and run authenticated (credentialed) vulnerability scans with scanners such as Nessus, Qualys, OpenVAS, or Rapid7 InsightVM, using SSH, SMB, WinRM, or SNMPv3 credentials to inspect installed software, patches, and configurations on Linux, Windows, and network devices. Use when a scan must catch vulnerabilities unauthenticated scanning misses, or when choosing and managing credential types for a credentialed scan.
Authenticated (credentialed) vulnerability scanning uses valid system credentials to log into target hosts and perform deep inspection of installed software, patches, configurations, and security settings. Compared to unauthenticated scanning, credentialed scans detect 45-60% more vulnerabilities with significantly fewer false positives because they can directly query installed packages, registry keys, and file system contents.
When to Use
When conducting security assessments that involve performing authenticated vulnerability scan
When following incident response procedures for related security events
When performing scheduled security testing or auditing activities
When validating security controls through hands-on testing
SSH Username/Password: Fallback for systems without key-based auth
Sudo/Su Elevation: Non-root user with sudo privileges
Certificate-based SSH: X.509 certificates for enterprise environments
Windows Systems
SMB (Windows): Domain or local admin credentials
WMI: Windows Management Instrumentation queries
WinRM: Windows Remote Management (HTTPS preferred)
Kerberos: Domain authentication with service tickets
Network Devices
SNMP v3: USM with authentication and privacy (AES-256)
SSH: For Cisco IOS, Juniper JunOS, Palo Alto PAN-OS
API Tokens: REST API for modern network platforms
Databases
Oracle: SYS/SYSDBA credentials or TNS connection
Microsoft SQL Server: Windows auth or SQL auth
PostgreSQL: Role-based authentication
MySQL: User/password with SELECT privileges
Workflow
Step 1: Create Dedicated Service Accounts
# Linux: Create scan service accountsudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash -c "Vulnerability Scanner Service Account" nessus_svc
sudo usermod -aG sudo nessus_svc
# Configure sudo for passwordless specific commandsecho'nessus_svc ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/dpkg -l, /usr/bin/rpm -qa, \
/bin/cat /etc/shadow, /usr/sbin/dmidecode, /usr/bin/find' | sudotee /etc/sudoers.d/nessus_svc
# Generate SSH key pairsudo -u nessus_svc ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f /home/nessus_svc/.ssh/id_ed25519 -N ""# Distribute public key to targetsfor host in $(cat target_hosts.txt); do
ssh-copy-id -i /home/nessus_svc/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub nessus_svc@$hostdone
# Windows: Create scan service account via PowerShell
New-ADUser -Name "SVC_VulnScan" `
-SamAccountName "SVC_VulnScan" `
-UserPrincipalName "SVC_VulnScan@domain.local" `
-Description "Vulnerability Scanner Service Account" `
-PasswordNeverExpires $true `
-CannotChangePassword $true `
-Enabled $true `
-AccountPassword (Read-Host -AsSecureString "Enter Password")
# Add to local Administrators group on targets via GPO or:
Add-ADGroupMember -Identity "Domain Admins" -Members "SVC_VulnScan"
# For least privilege, use a dedicated GPO for local admin rights instead
# Enable WinRM on targets
Enable-PSRemoting -Force
Set-Item WSMan:\localhost\Service\AllowRemote -Value $true
winrm set winrm/config/service '@{AllowUnencrypted="false"}'
