How are NSE script arguments passed and what is the general syntax for --script-args?

• A. Use --script-args key=value pairs separated by spaces
• B. Use --script-args key=value pairs separated by commas; multiple pairs separated by commas; Example: --script-args http-user=admin,http-pass=secret
• C. Use --script-args only with a file
• D. Use --script-args with colon separators

Answer: (B)

NSE script arguments are passed as a single string of key=value pairs, with each pair separated by a comma. This format lets a script easily parse arguments by name and retrieve their values. The general syntax is to put all the pairs after --script-args, separated by commas, for example: --script-args http-user=admin,http-pass=secret. If the values include spaces, wrap the entire argument list in quotes to prevent the shell from splitting them, e.g. --script-args 'http-user=admin,http-pass=secret value'.

Other delimiters or methods aren’t the standard way to specify NSE arguments. Using spaces without proper quoting would complicate parsing, and using a colon separator isn’t how the NSE parser expects keys and values. The option to specify arguments via a file is not part of the common syntax described for --script-args, making the comma-delimited key=value list the correct approach.