CVE-2025-36632: Critical Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in Tenable Agent

Overview

In the world of cybersecurity, where the landscape is constantly changing, it is essential to stay up-to-date with the latest vulnerabilities that could pose a risk to your systems. One such vulnerability, identified as CVE-2025-36632, has been discovered in Tenable Agent versions prior to 10.8.5 on a Windows host. This vulnerability poses a significant risk as it allows a non-administrative user to execute code with SYSTEM privilege, opening the door to potential system compromises or data leakage. The severity of this vulnerability, and the widespread use of Tenable Agent, underscores the importance of immediate action to mitigate this threat.

Vulnerability Summary

CVE ID: CVE-2025-36632
Severity: High (CVSS: 7.8)
Attack Vector: Local
Privileges Required: Low (Non-Administrative User)
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage

Affected Products

Product | Affected Versions

Tenable Agent | Prior to 10.8.5

How the Exploit Works

The vulnerability arises from a flaw in the Tenable Agent’s permission settings on a Windows host. A non-administrative user is allowed to execute code with SYSTEM privilege, the highest level of access on a Windows system. This is due to improper handling of user privileges in the application’s codebase. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by running a crafted malicious script or program. Since the Tenable Agent runs with SYSTEM privileges, the malicious program would also be executed with the same privileges, granting the attacker full control over the compromised system.

Conceptual Example Code

While an actual exploit code would be complex and dangerous, below is a conceptual example of how this vulnerability might be exploited in the form of pseudocode:

# This is a conceptual example. Real exploit code would be much more complex.
def exploit():
# Check if the system is running a vulnerable version of Tenable Agent
if check_vulnerable_version():
# Craft a malicious script or program
malicious_code = craft_malicious_code()
# Execute the code with SYSTEM privileges
execute_with_system_privilege(malicious_code)

The above pseudocode outlines the basic steps an attacker might take to exploit this vulnerability. Systems running Tenable Agent versions prior to 10.8.5 on a Windows host are urged to update to a patched version immediately or employ temporary mitigation strategies such as using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS).