Overview:
We hope you had a fantastic holiday! Unfortunately, the Grinch might have left one last surprise for us – Tenable has identified a critical issue affecting Nessus Agent versions 10.8.0 and 10.8.1, causing some headaches for vulnerability management teams.
A recent plugin update has rendered these agents offline and unresponsive, halting vulnerability scans on affected Windows, Linux, or macOS systems running versions 10.8.0 or 10.8.1. The good news is that your hosts are unaffected, and there’s a straightforward fix available. We’ve got you covered with the necessary scripts to get things back up and running.
What Happened?
Tenable discovered a bug in the differential plugin updates that caused these agents to disconnect from the console and stop responding to update or scan requests. To address the issue, Tenable disabled plugin updates for these versions and released a patched agent (10.8.2).
How to Fix It
Option 1: Reset and Relink the Agent Using a Script
If you manage multiple systems, this is the most efficient way to get them back online. We’ve written ready-to-use scripts for Windows, Linux, and macOS to automate the fix.
📌 Download the scripts from our GitHub repository: Tenable Agent Reset Scripts
These scripts will:
✅ Stop the Nessus Agent service
✅ Reset the plugins
✅ Restart the agent and relink it to the console
You can deploy them on affected machines via Active Directory Group Policy (GPO), an RMM tool, or manually.
Option 2: Manual Agent Upgrade
If scripting isn’t your thing, you can manually download and install Nessus Agent version 10.8.2 from Tenable’s site:
🔗 Download Nessus Agent
After installation, restart the agent service, which should report as normal.
Next Steps
- Identify affected systems – If you’re a client, we’ve already sent you a list of impacted assets. If not, check your Nessus console for offline agents running 10.8.0 or 10.8.1.
- Choose your fix – Deploy the script from our GitHub repo or manually upgrade affected agents.
- Confirm everything is back online – After the reset or upgrade, verify that agents are reporting in and scans are running as expected.
If you’re already working with us, you know this is the proactive response you can expect when things go sideways. Let’s talk if you don’t have an MSSP that keeps you ahead of issues like this.
✔️ Real-time threat monitoring and response
✔️ Proactive vulnerability management
✔️ A security team that actually has your back
Don’t wait for the next critical issue to rethink your security strategy. If this is the level of support you expect from your future MSSP, let’s connect.
Stay secure,
Assura, Inc.
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