NNM Detections Report - Vulnerabilities and Attacks

With the increase in the types of devices and services being supported by organizations today, many struggle to stay ahead of potential threats. As these devices and services are deployed, many come with a set of default credentials or weak security controls that are well-known and frequently exploited by attackers. This report provides a summary of vulnerabilities passively detected by the Nessus Network Monitor (NNM) which can help to highlight the effectiveness of security controls and can be used to improve vulnerability mitigation efforts.

By default, many devices, web applications, and operating systems come with a set of default credentials and/or built-in accounts that are deployed without any additional security mitigations. Some services used to transmit data are also deployed without additional security controls to prevent data from being transmitted in plaintext. Attackers frequently seek out these well-known vulnerabilities to gain access to internal systems, or sniff network traffic to access unencrypted confidential data. 

NNM continuously monitors traffic and collects information about services, data transmissions, and credentials on network hosts. Using passive listening, organizations will be able to achieve more consistent and effective monitoring for vulnerabilities on transient devices such as mobile devices, laptops, and virtualized systems. Analysts can use this information to highlight systems where data could be intercepted, and implement security controls help to mitigate the risk.

Information presented within this report includes a high-level overview of vulnerabilities passively detected by NNM. Elements within this report present the top vulnerabilities and the most vulnerable hosts. Analysts will be able to monitor subnets for vulnerabilities, which can highlight whether critical systems or data are at risk. Security teams can also use this information to identify vulnerabilities on outdated or unsupported software where a patch may not be available. Analysts will obtain information on systems running unsupported software applications, web applications, and operating systems that need to be upgraded, are at end of life, or are no longer supported by the vendor.

This report is available in the Tenable.sc Feed, a comprehensive collection of dashboards, reports, Assurance Report Cards, and assets. The report can be easily located in the Tenable.sc Feed under the category Discovery & Detection. The report requirements are:

• Tenable.sc 5.4.2
• NNM 5.2.0

Tenable.sc Continuous View (CV) is the market-defining continuous network monitoring solution, and can assist an organization in knowing, managing, and securing the network. Passive listening collects data to continuously monitor traffic and collect information about services, software, and network devices. With more supported technologies than other vendors, Tenable.sc CV is able to analyze vulnerabilities and collected logs from a wide range of operating systems, network devices, hypervisors, databases, tablets, phones, web servers, and critical infrastructure devices. Tenable.sc CV provides an organization with the most comprehensive view of the network, and the intelligence needed to safeguard critical assets and sensitive data.

The following chapters are included in this report:

• Executive Summary: The Executive Summary chapter presents an overview of attack-based vulnerabilities and credentials that have been passively detected by NNM. Each chapter within this report provides a detailed summary of detected vulnerabilities and the affected hosts. Information contained within this chapter identifies the most vulnerable subnets on the network, and provides the critical context needed to improve vulnerability mitigation efforts.
• Default/Weak Credentials Summary: The Default/Weak Credentials Summary chapter presents a summary of systems using default/weak credentials and unsupported software vulnerabilities passively detected by Tenable NNM. Many devices, applications, and operating systems come with a set of default credentials that can be easily exploited by attackers. Using the information provided within this chapter will help analysts quickly identify and mitigate these vulnerabilities.
• Attack Vulnerabilities Summary: The Attack Vulnerabilities Summary chapter presents a summary of attack-based vulnerabilities detected on hosts within the network. This information will highlight vulnerabilities such as cross-site scripting, man-in-the-middle attacks, shell attacks, suspicious database commands, and more. Analysts can modify elements within this chapter to obtain additional information on the detected vulnerabilities.