This project involved a comprehensive vulnerability management lifecycle targeting CyberTech Solutions' internal Linux infrastructure. I designed a dual-scan assessment strategy to evaluate security from both an external attacker’s perspective and an internal system-level view.
By identifying critical exposures through specialized scanning and engineering an Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) remediation pipeline, I successfully reduced the infrastructure's attack surface to zero exploitable vulnerabilities.
I executed two distinct scan types using Tenable Nessus to gain full visibility into the environment:
- External Web Application Scan: Targeted the Nginx web server to identify application-layer vulnerabilities, simulating how an outside threat actor would interact with the service.
- Credentialed Internal Scan: Authenticated into the Linux host via SSH to perform a deep-level inspection of the operating system and installed packages.
The assessment surfaced 83 total vulnerabilities. The Credentialed Scan was instrumental in identifying deep system-level flaws that a standard network scan would have missed.
| Scan Type | Component | Key Findings | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Web App Scan | Nginx | CVE-2021-23017: 1-Byte Memory Overwrite (RCE); CVE-2019-9511/13/16: HTTP/2 DoS. | High |
| Credentialed Scan | Vim | CVE-2026-28417: OS Command Injection in netrw plugin; CVE-2026-33412: Glob newline escape. | High |
I engineered an Ansible remediation pipeline to automate the hardening process across the infrastructure.
- Purge: Removed the vulnerable, manually compiled Nginx v1.15.5.
- Sync: Updated system package metadata for repository integrity.
- Deploy: Installed the current stable, secured Nginx v1.28.3.
- Verify: Executed follow-up Nessus scans, confirming zero exploitable vulnerabilities remained.
- Tenable Nessus: Credentialed and Web Application Scanning.
- Ansible: Infrastructure-as-Code for automated patching.
- Kali Linux: Primary deployment environment.
- Gmail SMTP: Configured via Port 465 (SSL) for automated reporting pipelines when Port 587 over TLS failed.
This project reinforces the fundamental security principle that visibility is the first step toward defense. By bridging the gap between Tenable Nessus visibility and Ansible automation, I transitioned the infrastructure from a reactive state to a proactive, continuously monitored environment.
X (Twitter): @thatboringbro