The VMM must implement replay-resistant authentication mechanisms for network access to privileged accounts by restricting use of Active Directory ESX Admin group membership.

From VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0 Security Technical Implementation Guide

Associated with: CCI-001941

SV-78387r1_rule The VMM must implement replay-resistant authentication mechanisms for network access to privileged accounts by restricting use of Active Directory ESX Admin group membership.

Vulnerability discussion

When adding ESXi hosts to Active Directory, if the group "ESX Admins" exists, all user/group accounts assigned to the group will have full administrative access to the host. Discretion should be used when managing membership to the "ESX Admins" group.

Check content

From the vSphere Client select the ESXi Host and go to Configuration >> Advanced Settings. Select the Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup value and verify it is not set to "ESX Admins". or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host run the following command: Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup For systems that do not use Active Directory and have no local user accounts, other than root and/or vpxuser, this is not applicable. For systems that do not use Active Directory and do have local user accounts, other than root and/or vpxuser, this is a finding. If the "Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup" keyword is set to "ESX Admins", this is a finding.

Fix text

From the vSphere Client select the ESXi Host and go to Configuration >> Advanced Settings. Select the Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup value and configure it to an Active Directory group other than "ESX Admins". or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host run the following commands: Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value

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