


NESSUS(1)                 Users Manuals                 NESSUS(1)


NNAAMMEE
       nessus - The client part of the Nessus Security Scanner

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
       nneessssuuss [[_-_n]]

       nneessssuuss [[_-_q]] _S_e_r_v_e_r _P_o_r_t _L_o_g_i_n _T_a_r_g_e_t_s_f_i_l_e _R_e_s_u_l_t_s_f_i_l_e

       nneessssuuss [[_-_C]] [[_-_L]] [[_-_K _<_k_e_y_n_a_m_e_>]] [[_-_k _<_k_e_y_l_e_n_>]]

       nneessssuuss [[_-_X _<_k_e_y_-_f_i_l_e_>]]

       nneessssuuss [[_-_v]] [[_-_h]]

       nneessssuuss [[_-_c<<ffiillee>>_]

       nneessssuuss [[_-_T<<ttyyppee>>_]

       or, using long options

       nneessssuuss [[_-_-_n_o_-_p_i_x_m_a_p_s]]

       nneessssuuss [[_-_-_b_a_t_c_h_-_m_o_d_e]] _S_e_r_v_e_r _P_o_r_t _L_o_g_i_n _T_r_g_f_i_l_e _R_e_s_u_l_t_s_f_i_l_e

       nneessssuuss [[_-_-_c_h_a_n_g_e_-_p_a_s_s_-_p_h_r_a_s_e]] [[_-_-_l_i_s_t_-_k_e_y_s]] \\
              [[_-_-_d_e_l_e_t_e_-_k_e_y_=_<_k_e_y_n_a_m_e_>]] [[_-_-_s_e_t_-_k_e_y_-_l_e_n_g_t_h_=_<_k_e_y_l_e_n_>]]

       nneessssuuss [[_-_-_e_x_p_o_r_t_-_p_u_b_k_e_y_=_<_k_e_y_-_f_i_l_e_>_"_]_"


       nneessssuuss [[_-_-_c_o_n_f_i_g_-_f_i_l_e_=_<_f_i_l_e_>]]
       nneessssuuss [[_-_-_o_u_t_p_u_t_-_t_y_p_e_=_<_t_y_p_e_>]]
       nneessssuuss [[_-_-_v_e_r_s_i_o_n]] [[_-_-_h_e_l_p]]


DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
       The  NNeessssuuss  SSeeccuurriittyy  SSccaannnneerr is a security auditing tool
       made up of two parts: a server, and a client.  The server,
       nneessssuussdd(8) is in charge of the attacks, whereas the client
       nneessssuuss provides an interface to the user.  It comes in two
       flavours,  with and without GUI (grephical user interface)
       support.

       As an X11 client, NNeessssuuss is  based  on  the  Gimp  ToolKit
       (GTK) and needs no arguments upon start up.

       As a command line version, BBeessssuuss always needs the follow-
       ing arguments placed after the options:


       _S_e_r_v_e_r
            is the address, or  the  host  name  of  the  NNeessssuussdd
            server host to connect to,




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       _P_o_r_t
            is  the port, the nessus server lisens on for connect
            requests,

       _L_o_g_i_n
            is the user login name that is to be  used  for  con-
            necting to the NNeessssuussdd server,

       _T_r_g_f_i_l_e
            is the name of a file containing the lists of targets
            host adresses, or names that are  to  be  checked  or
            scanned,

       _R_e_s_u_l_t_s_f_i_l_e
            is  the  name  of a file where the NNeessssuuss client will
            stored the scan results at the end of the test.

       In that sense, NNeessssuuss will always  adopt  a  command  line
       behaviour  if  there  are any command line arguments which
       are not detectes ad options, i.e. they do not begin with a
       dash '--'.


OOPPTTIIOONNSS
       --vv,, ----vveerrssiioonn
              shows version number and quits

       --hh,, ----hheellpp
              lists the available options

       --nn,, ----nnoo--ppiixxmmaappss
              no  pixmaps.  Handy  if you are running nessus on a
              remote computer as it reduces bandwidth.

       --kk _<_k_e_y_-_l_e_n_>,, ----sseett--kkeeyy--lleennggtthh_=_<_k_e_y_-_l_e_n_>
              Enforce a minimum key  length  different  from  the
              default 1024.

       --TT _<_t_y_p_e_>_, ----oouuttppuutt--ttyyppee_=_<_t_y_p_e_>
              Save  the  data  as  <type>,  where  <type>  can be
              'html', 'text', 'tex' or 'nsr'


       --qq,, ----bbaattcchh--mmooddee
              force quiet, or batch mode.  Setting  this  option,
              the  nessus  client  always expects the options for
              the batch mode, following.

       --rr _<_r_e_p_o_r_t_-_f_i_l_e_>,, ----ooppeenn--rreeppoorrtt==_<_r_e_p_o_r_t_-_f_i_l_e_>
              Using the gui, NNeessssuuss visualizes a report file from
              a  previous  session.   Repeating this option, more
              files are displayed.





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KKEEYY MMAANNAAGGEEMMEENNTT OOPPTTIIOONNSS
       The key management  options  can  be  used  while  another
       instance  of  nneessssuuss  is already running. Modifications on
       the  key  data  base  will  be  honoured  by  the  running
       instance.  If  nneessssuuss  was  invoked with a key manangement
       option, it will not start up as deamon.

       --CC,, ----cchhaannggee--ppaassss--pphhrraassee
              Let nneessssuuss secure the private  key  by  a  personal
              pass  phrase.  Using this feature, a pass phrase is
              read from the  command  line  (see  ggeettppaassss(1)  for
              details  upon  the  input  device)  which is conse-
              quently used to encrypt that  key.   Upon  restart,
              nneessssuuss  will not come up until you have entered the
              correct pass phrase.  Once, the pass phrase is lost
              you  can  only  delete  the private key (usually in
              $HOME/.nessus.keys.)

              In order to remove the pass phrase from a key,  you
              need to give an empty pass phrase.

       --LL,, ----lliisstt--kkeeyyss
              List the entries in the user key data base.

       --KK _<_d_e_l_e_t_e_-_k_e_y_>_,----ddeelleettee--kkeeyy==_<_d_e_l_e_t_e_-_k_e_y_>
              Delete a key from user the data base.

       --XX _<_k_e_y_-_f_i_l_e_>,, ----eexxppoorrtt--ppuubbkkeeyy_=_<_k_e_y_-_f_i_l_e_>
              Export  the  public user key into the argument file
              _<_k_e_y_-_f_i_l_e_>.  If the key tag exists, already in  the
              file  and  the  key is the same as the current one,
              nothing is done.  If the key tag is  found  with  a
              different  key,  an error is printed. Otherwise the
              key is appended to the file.

              If the argument _<_k_e_y_-_f_i_l_e_> is a dash --, the current
              key is printed to stdout.


XX1111 UUSSEERR IINNTTEERRFFAACCEE
       The  nessus client interface is divided in several panels:

       _T_h_e nneessssuussdd hhoosstt _s_e_c_t_i_o_n
              In this section, you must enter the nessusd host to
              connect  to,  as  well  as  the port. You must also
              enter your nneessssuussdd user name and your password (not
              the one of the system). Once you are done, you must
              click on the 'login now!' button, which will estab-
              lish the connection the the nessusd host.
              Once  the  connection is established, nneessssuussdd sends
              to the client the list of attacks it will  perform,
              as well as the default preferences to use.





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       _T_h_e ttaarrggeett sseelleeccttiioonn _s_e_c_t_i_o_n
              In this section, you are required to enter the pri-
              mary target. A primary target may be a single  host
              (like  prof.fr.nessus.org),  an IP (192.168.1.1), a
              subnet (192.168.1.1/24, or prof.fr.nessus.org),  or
              a  list  of  hosts,  separated  by  commas  (like :
              192.168.1.1,  192.168.2.1/24,   prof.fr.nessus.org,
              joyeux.fr.nessus.org).

              You  can  restrict  the  maximum number of hosts to
              test using the      _M_a_x _H_o_s_t_s  entry.  This  is  an
              _e_x_t_r_a _s_e_c_u_r_i_t_y
               which  will  garantee  you  that you will not test
              other by accident (for instance, if you  only  plan
              to  test  prof.fr.nessus.org and www.fr.nessus.org,
              you can safely set this entry to _2).

              This panel also allows you to enable the _P_e_r_f_o_r_m  _a
              _D_N_S  _z_o_n_e _t_r_a_n_s_f_e_r option. This option is dangerous
              and should be enabled with caution.  For  instance,
              if  you  want  to test www.nessus.org, then if this
              option is set, nessusd will attempt to get the list
              of the hosts in the _n_e_s_s_u_s_._o_r_g domain.

              The  latter  option may be dangerous. For instance,
              if  you   enable   it   and   you   ask   to   test
              192.168.1.1/24,  then  nessusd  will  do  a reverse
              lookup on _e_v_e_r_y IP, and will  attempt  a  DNS  zone
              transfer  on  every domain. That is, if 192.168.1.1
              is www.foo.bar, and 192.168.1.10  is  mail.bar.foo,
              then  a  DNS  zone  transfer  will  be  made on the
              domains _f_o_o_._b_a_rand_b_a_r_._f_o_o.

       TThhee PPlluuggiinnss sseeccttiioonn
              Once you have successfully logged into  the  remote
              nessusd server, this section is filed with the list
              of the attacks that the server will  perform.  This
              panel  is  divided in two parts : the plugins fami-
              lies, and the plugins themselves. If you  click  on
              the  name  of  a plugin, then a dialog will appear,
              showing you which will be the error message sent by
              the plugin if the attack is successful.

EENNVVIIRROONNMMEENNTT VVAARRIIAABBLLEESS
       NNEESSSSUUSSUUSSEERR
              If this environemt variable is set, the name speci-
              fied by this variable is considered as  login  name
              and  used for tagging/identifying the personal key.

       NNEESSSSUUSSHHOOMMEE
              If the environemt variable is  set,  this  path  is
              used  instead  of  the  path  defined   by the HHOOMMEE
              variable.  This path is referred to as ~~//, below.




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       uusseerrpprrooffiillee
              Ignored  on  non-Windows  machines,  this  variable
              takes  precedence  over  HOME,  which  has the same
              meaning in the given context.

       HHOOMMEE   The path to the user's home  directory  which  will
              hold  the  client configuration cache _._n_e_s_s_u_s_r_c and
              the key data base below.

FFIILLEESS
       ~~//..nneessssuussrrcc
              is the client configuration cache,  which  contains
              the  options about, which nessusd server to connect
              to by default, which plugins to  activate,  and  so
              on.   The  file is created automatically within the
              first nneessssuuss(11) session.

       ~~//..nneessssuuss..kkeeyyss
              contains the client private key,  as  well  as  the
              nessusd  servers public keys.  This file is created
              automatically when starting nneessssuuss(11).

SSEEEE AALLSSOO
       nneessssuuss(1), ggeettppaassss(1)

MMOORREE IINNFFOORRMMAATTIIOONN AABBOOUUTT TTHHEE NNEESSSSUUSS PPRROOJJEECCTT
       The canonical places where you will find more  information
       about the Nessus project are :

          http://www.nessus.org (Official site)
          http://cvs.nessus.org (Developers site)

AAUUTTHHOORRSS
       The  Nessus Project was started and is being maintained by
       Renaud  Deraison  <deraison@cvs.nessus.org>.  The   nessus
       server  is mainly Copyright (C) 1998-1999 Renaud Deraison,
       as well as the attack modules.

       Jordan Hrycaj <jordan@mjh.teddy-net.com> is the author  of
       the  optional  cipher  layer  between  the  server and the
       client. The cipher library (libpeks) is (C) 1998-1999 Jor-
       dan Hrycaj

       And  several  other  people  have been kind enough to send
       patches and bug reports.  Thanks to them.












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