UPGRADE TO NUCLEUS
Kenna is Ending. Your Risk-Based Program Doesn’t Have To.
Cisco Vulnerability Management is reaching end-of-life. Upgrade to Nucleus, the proven Kenna replacement that turns RBVM into unified exposure management.
Cisco announced on December 10, 2025, that its Vulnerability Management platform, previously known as Kenna Security, will reach end of sale on March 10, 2026, with final support ending June 30, 2028.
This isn’t just a product sunset. It’s the end of the first era of risk-based vulnerability management and the start of exposure management.
Nucleus is the next-generation Kenna replacement that levels up your risk-based VM program to true unified exposure management.
Our proven migration playbook and in-the-trenches team make the upgrade fast, guided, and low risk – a no-brainer for any team looking to upgrade from Kenna to a next-gen EM platform.
Kenna Buyout Limited Time Offer
If you’re stuck in the middle of your Kenna subscription, for a limited time we may be able to buy out your remaining Kenna term, so you can migrate now instead of waiting. You can even run both solutions in parallel to validate before you switch.
Not sure if you’re eligible. Fill out the form and start the conversation with Nucleus to find out.
Request Your Kenna Migration Plan
Cisco VM (Kenna) vs Nucleus — Comparison
Side-by-side snapshot across key capabilities.
| Category | Cisco VM (Kenna) | Nucleus |
|---|---|---|
| Prioritization | ||
| Coverage | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Reporting & dashboards | ||
| Ownership & routing | ||
| Risk acceptance & exceptions | ||
| Workflow management | ||
| Custom risk scoring | ||
| Enterprise governance & deployment |
“We were staring at 4,000 things in the backlog. Once we filtered to the existential threats with documented exploits, the do-now list dropped to nine.”
-Healthcare Enterprise on replacing Kenna with Nucleus | Read the full customer story
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Nucleus match my Kenna dashboards and workflows?
Yes. We map your existing Kenna program into Nucleus so your teams can hit the ground running.
Can I keep my existing scanners and tools?
Yes. Nucleus is vendor-agnostic and works with your current scanners and asset sources.
How long does it actually take to upgrade from Kenna to Nucleus?
Smaller customers can move from Kenna / Cisco VM to Nucleus in under 30 days. We use a proven migration playbook: we map your current connectors and workflows, run Nucleus in parallel with Kenna so you can validate results, then cut over once you’re confident—no “big bang” surprises.
What makes Nucleus different from just using our scanner vendor’s exposure platform?
Scanner vendors are built to sell and prioritize their data. Nucleus is vendor-agnostic and acts as your neutral exposure system of record across all scanners and AppSec tools. You keep leverage over vendors, avoid lock-in, and don’t have to redesign your program every time you change a scanner.
How is Nucleus different from newer or emerging exposure platforms?
Many emerging solutions look great in demos but haven’t been proven at enterprise scale or complexity. Nucleus already runs in large, complex environments with multi-BU orgs, thousands of users, and messy mixes of legacy + cloud. You get modern exposure management plus the maturity and reliability you need for a Kenna replacement.
Can we keep our current scanners, ticketing, and AppSec tools?
Yes. Nucleus plugs into your existing stack; network scanners, cloud security tools, AppSec platforms, ITSM, and collaboration tools. The goal is not to replace them, but to unify findings, add context, automate workflows, and give you one place to run your exposure program.
Can Nucleus replicate our Kenna reports, dashboards, and SLAs?
We don’t “clone” Kenna, we recreate the intent of your key dashboards, metrics, and SLAs, and usually improve them. As part of the migration assessment, we map your Kenna reports to equivalent (or better) Nucleus views so your stakeholders don’t lose the visibility they rely on.
How does Nucleus handle complex org structures and MSSPs?
Nucleus was designed for true multi-tenancy and org mapping. You can mirror real-world structures—business units, regions, subsidiaries, or customer tenants—set SLAs per group, and report on performance by owner. MSSPs get clean separation between customers while still managing everything from one place.
How does Nucleus move us from “prioritization” to full workflow orchestration with reliable ownership?
Kenna helped you prioritize. Nucleus goes further by becoming the orchestration layer for risk management remediation. We operationalize your metadata to reliable assign ownership.
What exactly do we get in the Kenna to Nucleus migration?
The migration gives you a concrete, low-risk path off Kenna: an assessment of your current setup, a draft Nucleus architecture (integrations, org model, workflows), and clear options including contract buyout eligibility.
Does Nucleus handle cloud-native environments (autoscaling, ephemeral cloud)?
Yes. Assets can be grouped and routed dynamically as resources spin up/down, so ownership and prioritization don’t require constant manual updates.
Can we measure MTTR and performance by team, group, or operating system?
Yes. Nucleus supports MTTR and other metrics by groupings (not just a global rollup).
How fast does Nucleus prioritize when new data lands?
Nucleus is built to operate at enterprise scale. Our customers experience rapid reprioritization across very large datasets; for example, 50M vulns in ~2 minutes.
What happens to our reporting when we migrate from Kenna to Nucleus?
Nucleus includes 300+ metrics out-of-the-box and we can migrate dashboards or views quickly to ensure continuity.
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DON’T TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT
Read What Our Customers Are Saying
Gartner Peer Insights
Senior Security Analyst, Energy and Utilities
Gartner Peer Insights
Security Architect, IT Services
Our vulnerability management was quite a mess. The Nucleus Platform allowed us to replace [our] old tool with a modern platform, allowing us to easily streamline the vulnerability management process. It also allowed us to be scanner agnostic and automate data ingestion.
Gartner Peer Insights
Security Operations Manager, Education
Very valuable product that allows us to prioritize mitigation of vulnerability and risk. Very customizable and flexible.
Gartner Peer Insights
Manager, Sec Arch and Threat Management, Healthcare and Biotech
Nucleus Security has been an exceptional partner from the beginning…After purchasing, they offered one of the best onboarding/implementations I’ve worked with, and the product is easy to use.
Gartner Peer Insights
SOC Operations Manager, IT Services
Gartner Peer Insights
Service Delivery Manager, IT Services
An overall excellent experience, from sales, marketing to support.
Gartner Peer Insights
IT Associate, IT Services
Julian J.
Vulnerability Analyst II
The Nucleus Automation Engine makes VM workflows seamless. You can “set and forget” your automation rules, and as new data comes in, they are triggered with no manual intervention required.
Gartner Peer Insights
SVP & CISO, IT Services
Nucleus is a great platform for consolidating vulnerabilities and creating a representation of your risk posture. The platform is driving a change in our ability to become proactive in the delivery of our products and services.
Gartner Peer Insights
Sr. Developer
Nucleus Security is an outstanding vulnerability management orchestration platform that fits well in modern, complex environments where security data comes from multiple tools and teams.
Matt N.
Senior Security Architect
There is a huge need to aggregate vulnerabilities from your entire organization, not just infrastructure. Nucleus gives you that ability and helps make sense of it all. Without it, you might just be spending a lot of time and effort patching the wrong vulnerabilities.
Kate B.
Vulnerability Management Engineer
The ability I have to allow different patching teams access to the information that will make the greatest impact with the work that they are doing has been a great experience. The customization in the UI…is something I have not had experience with in other Vulnerability Management tools.
Gartner Peer Insights
Senior Security Analyst, Energy and Utilities
Gartner Peer Insights
Security Architect, IT Services
Our vulnerability management was quite a mess. The Nucleus Platform allowed us to replace [our] old tool with a modern platform, allowing us to easily streamline the vulnerability management process. It also allowed us to be scanner agnostic and automate data ingestion.
Gartner Peer Insights
Security Operations Manager, Education
Very valuable product that allows us to prioritize mitigation of vulnerability and risk. Very customizable and flexible.
Gartner Peer Insights
Manager, Sec Arch and Threat Management, Healthcare and Biotech
Nucleus Security has been an exceptional partner from the beginning…After purchasing, they offered one of the best onboarding/implementations I’ve worked with, and the product is easy to use.
Gartner Peer Insights
SOC Operations Manager, IT Services
Gartner Peer Insights
Service Delivery Manager, IT Services
An overall excellent experience, from sales, marketing to support.
Gartner Peer Insights
IT Associate, IT Services
Julian J.
Vulnerability Analyst II
The Nucleus Automation Engine makes VM workflows seamless. You can “set and forget” your automation rules, and as new data comes in, they are triggered with no manual intervention required.
Gartner Peer Insights
SVP & CISO, IT Services
Nucleus is a great platform for consolidating vulnerabilities and creating a representation of your risk posture. The platform is driving a change in our ability to become proactive in the delivery of our products and services.
Gartner Peer Insights
Sr. Developer
Nucleus Security is an outstanding vulnerability management orchestration platform that fits well in modern, complex environments where security data comes from multiple tools and teams.
Matt N.
Senior Security Architect
There is a huge need to aggregate vulnerabilities from your entire organization, not just infrastructure. Nucleus gives you that ability and helps make sense of it all. Without it, you might just be spending a lot of time and effort patching the wrong vulnerabilities.
Kate B.
Vulnerability Management Engineer
The ability I have to allow different patching teams access to the information that will make the greatest impact with the work that they are doing has been a great experience. The customization in the UI…is something I have not had experience with in other Vulnerability Management tools.
