Nessus

Overview

This node integrates with the Nessus API to manage and retrieve information about various Nessus resources, including scans, policies, folders, plugins, and sessions. Specifically, for the Plugin resource with the Get Plugin Details operation, it fetches detailed information about a specific plugin identified by its name or ID.

Common scenarios where this node is beneficial include:

• Security teams automating vulnerability management workflows by retrieving detailed plugin data.
• Integrations that require fetching plugin metadata to analyze or report on vulnerabilities detected by Nessus.
• Automated auditing systems that need to pull plugin details dynamically as part of security assessments.

Practical example:

• You want to get detailed information about a particular Nessus plugin (e.g., a vulnerability check) to understand its risk factor, description, or family classification before running scans or generating reports.

Properties

Output

The node outputs a JSON object containing the detailed information of the specified plugin. The structure typically includes fields such as plugin ID, name, risk factor, family, description, and other metadata provided by the Nessus API about that plugin.

No binary data output is produced by this operation.

Example output JSON snippet (simplified):

{
  "id": 12345,
  "name": "Sample Plugin",
  "risk_factor": "High",
  "family_name": "Windows",
  "description": "Checks for a specific vulnerability...",
  ...
}

Dependencies

• Requires access to the Nessus API via an API key credential configured in n8n.
• The node depends on the NessusApi helper class internally to communicate with the Nessus service.
• Proper network connectivity and permissions to query plugin details on the Nessus server are necessary.

Troubleshooting

• Common issues:

  • Invalid or expired API credentials can cause authentication failures.
  • Specifying a plugin ID that does not exist or is inaccessible will result in errors.
  • Network connectivity problems between n8n and the Nessus server may cause timeouts or request failures.

• Error messages and resolutions:

  • "Failed to load plugins: <error message>": Indicates failure when loading plugin options; verify API credentials and network access.
  • Errors during execution like "Plugin not found" suggest the plugin ID is incorrect or the user lacks permission; double-check the plugin selection.
  • If the node throws a generic API error, ensure the Nessus server is reachable and the API endpoint is correct.

Links and References

• Nessus API Documentation
• n8n Expressions Documentation
• Nessus Plugin Families and Plugins