VMware vSphere 7.0 Virtual Machine Security Technical Implementation Guide

Description

This Security Technical Implementation Guide is published as a tool to improve the security of Department of Defense (DOD) information systems. The requirements are derived from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-53 and related documents. Comments or proposed revisions to this document should be sent via email to the following address: [email protected].

Details

Version / Release: V1R1

Published: 2023-02-27

Updated At: 2023-05-04 00:38:36

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Drop CKL or SCAP (XCCDF) results here.

    Vuln Rule Version CCI Severity Title Description Status Finding Details Comments
    SV-256450r886393_rule VMCH-70-000001 CCI-000366 LOW Copy operations must be disabled on the virtual machine (VM). Copy and paste operations are disabled by default; however, explicitly disabling this feature will enable audit controls to verify this setting is correct. Copy, paste, drag and drop, or GUI copy/paste operations between the guest operating system and the
    SV-256451r886396_rule VMCH-70-000002 CCI-000366 LOW Drag and drop operations must be disabled on the virtual machine (VM). Copy and paste operations are disabled by default; however, explicitly disabling this feature will enable audit controls to verify this setting is correct. Copy, paste, drag and drop, or GUI copy/paste operations between the guest operating system and the
    SV-256452r886399_rule VMCH-70-000003 CCI-000366 LOW Paste operations must be disabled on the virtual machine (VM). Copy and paste operations are disabled by default; however, explicitly disabling this feature will enable audit controls to verify this setting is correct. Copy, paste, drag and drop, or GUI copy/paste operations between the guest operating system and the
    SV-256453r886402_rule VMCH-70-000004 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Virtual disk shrinking must be disabled on the virtual machine (VM). Shrinking a virtual disk reclaims unused space in it. If there is empty space in the disk, this process reduces the amount of space the virtual disk occupies on the host drive. Normal users and processes (those without root or administrator privileges) wi
    SV-256454r886405_rule VMCH-70-000005 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Virtual disk wiping must be disabled on the virtual machine (VM). Shrinking and wiping (erasing) a virtual disk reclaims unused space in it. If there is empty space in the disk, this process reduces the amount of space the virtual disk occupies on the host drive. Normal users and processes (those without root or adminis
    SV-256455r886408_rule VMCH-70-000006 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Independent, nonpersistent disks must not be used on the virtual machine (VM). The security issue with nonpersistent disk mode is that successful attackers, with a simple shutdown or reboot, might undo or remove any traces they were ever on the machine. To safeguard against this risk, production virtual machines should be set to use
    SV-256456r886411_rule VMCH-70-000007 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Host Guest File System (HGFS) file transfers must be disabled on the virtual machine (VM). Setting "isolation.tools.hgfsServerSet.disable" to "true" disables registration of the guest's HGFS server with the host. Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that use HGFS to transfer files to and from the guest operating system, such as some VIX co
    SV-256457r886414_rule VMCH-70-000008 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Unauthorized floppy devices must be disconnected on the virtual machine (VM). Ensure no device is connected to a virtual machine if it is not required. For example, floppy, serial, and parallel ports are rarely used for virtual machines in a data center environment, and CD/DVD drives are usually connected only temporarily during so
    SV-256458r886417_rule VMCH-70-000009 CCI-000366 LOW Unauthorized CD/DVD devices must be disconnected on the virtual machine (VM). Ensure no device is connected to a virtual machine if it is not required. For example, floppy, serial, and parallel ports are rarely used for virtual machines in a data center environment, and CD/DVD drives are usually connected only temporarily during so
    SV-256459r886420_rule VMCH-70-000010 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Unauthorized parallel devices must be disconnected on the virtual machine (VM). Ensure no device is connected to a virtual machine if it is not required. For example, floppy, serial, and parallel ports are rarely used for virtual machines in a data center environment, and CD/DVD drives are usually connected only temporarily during so
    SV-256460r886423_rule VMCH-70-000011 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Unauthorized serial devices must be disconnected on the virtual machine (VM). Ensure no device is connected to a virtual machine if it is not required. For example, floppy, serial, and parallel ports are rarely used for virtual machines in a datacenter environment, and CD/DVD drives are usually connected only temporarily during sof
    SV-256461r886426_rule VMCH-70-000012 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Unauthorized USB devices must be disconnected on the virtual machine (VM). Ensure no device is connected to a virtual machine if it is not required. For example, floppy, serial, and parallel ports are rarely used for virtual machines in a data center environment, and CD/DVD drives are usually connected only temporarily during so
    SV-256462r886429_rule VMCH-70-000013 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Console connection sharing must be limited on the virtual machine (VM). By default, more than one user at a time can connect to remote console sessions. When multiple sessions are activated, each terminal window receives a notification about the new session. If an administrator in the VM logs in using a VMware remote console
    SV-256463r886432_rule VMCH-70-000015 CCI-000366 LOW Informational messages from the virtual machine to the VMX file must be limited on the virtual machine (VM). The configuration file containing these name-value pairs is limited to a size of 1MB. If not limited, VMware tools in the guest operating system are capable of sending a large and continuous data stream to the host. This 1MB capacity should be sufficient
    SV-256464r886435_rule VMCH-70-000016 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Unauthorized removal, connection, and modification of devices must be prevented on the virtual machine (VM). In a virtual machine, users and processes without root or administrator privileges can connect or disconnect devices, such as network adaptors and CD-ROM drives, and can modify device settings. Use the virtual machine settings editor or configuration edit
    SV-256465r886438_rule VMCH-70-000017 CCI-000366 MEDIUM The virtual machine (VM) must not be able to obtain host information from the hypervisor. If enabled, a VM can obtain detailed information about the physical host. The default value for the parameter is FALSE. This setting should not be TRUE unless a particular VM requires this information for performance monitoring. An adversary could use thi
    SV-256466r886441_rule VMCH-70-000018 CCI-000366 LOW Shared salt values must be disabled on the virtual machine (VM). When salting is enabled (Mem.ShareForceSalting=1 or 2) to share a page between two virtual machines, both salt and the content of the page must be same. A salt value is a configurable advanced option for each virtual machine. The salt values can be specif
    SV-256467r886444_rule VMCH-70-000019 CCI-000366 LOW Access to virtual machines (VMs) through the "dvfilter" network Application Programming Interface (API) must be controlled. An attacker might compromise a VM by using the "dvFilter" API. Configure only VMs that need this access to use the API.
    SV-256468r886447_rule VMCH-70-000020 CCI-000366 LOW System administrators must use templates to deploy virtual machines (VMs) whenever possible. Capture a hardened base operating system image (with no applications installed) in a template to ensure all VMs are created with a known baseline level of security. Use this template to create other, application-specific templates, or use the application
    SV-256469r886450_rule VMCH-70-000021 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Use of the virtual machine (VM) console must be minimized. The VM console enables a connection to the console of a virtual machine, in effect seeing what a monitor on a physical server would show. The VM console also provides power management and removable device connectivity controls, which could allow a malicio
    SV-256470r886453_rule VMCH-70-000022 CCI-000366 MEDIUM The virtual machine (VM) guest operating system must be locked when the last console connection is closed. When accessing the VM console, the guest operating system must be locked when the last console user disconnects, limiting the possibility of session hijacking. This setting only applies to Windows-based VMs with VMware tools installed.
    SV-256471r886456_rule VMCH-70-000023 CCI-000366 LOW All 3D features on the virtual machine (VM) must be disabled when not required. For performance reasons, it is recommended that 3D acceleration be disabled on virtual machines that do not require 3D functionality (e.g., most server workloads or desktops not using 3D applications). 
    SV-256472r886459_rule VMCH-70-000024 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Encryption must be enabled for vMotion on the virtual machine (VM). vMotion migrations in vSphere 6.0 and earlier transferred working memory and CPU state information in clear text over the vMotion network. As of vSphere 6.5, this transfer can be transparently encrypted using 256-bit AES-GCM with negligible performance im
    SV-256473r886462_rule VMCH-70-000025 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Logging must be enabled on the virtual machine (VM). The ESXi hypervisor maintains logs for each individual VM by default. These logs contain information including but not limited to power events, system failure information, tools status and activity, time sync, virtual hardware changes, vMotion migrations
    SV-256474r886465_rule VMCH-70-000026 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Log size must be configured properly on the virtual machine (VM). The ESXi hypervisor maintains logs for each individual VM by default. These logs contain information including but not limited to power events, system failure information, tools status and activity, time sync, virtual hardware changes, vMotion migrations,
    SV-256475r886468_rule VMCH-70-000027 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Log retention must be configured properly on the virtual machine (VM). The ESXi hypervisor maintains logs for each individual VM by default. These logs contain information including but not limited to power events, system failure information, tools status and activity, time sync, virtual hardware changes, vMotion migrations,
    SV-256476r886471_rule VMCH-70-000028 CCI-000366 MEDIUM DirectPath I/O must be disabled on the virtual machine (VM) when not required. VMDirectPath I/O (PCI passthrough) enables direct assignment of hardware PCI functions to VMs. This gives the VM access to the PCI functions with minimal intervention from the ESXi host. This is a powerful feature for legitimate applications such as virtu
    SV-256477r886474_rule VMCH-70-000029 CCI-000366 MEDIUM Encryption must be enabled for Fault Tolerance on the virtual machine (VM). Fault Tolerance log traffic can be encrypted. This could contain sensitive data from the protected machine's memory or CPU instructions. vSphere Fault Tolerance performs frequent checks between a primary VM and secondary VM so the secondary VM can quickl