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The ESXi host must enable Bridge Protocol Data Units (BPDU) filter on the host to prevent being locked out of physical switch ports with Portfast and BPDU Guard enabled.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-256419ESXI-70-000058SV-256419r959010_ruleCCI-000366medium
Description
BPDU Guard and Portfast are commonly enabled on the physical switch to which the ESXi host is directly connected to reduce the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) convergence delay. If a BPDU packet is sent from a virtual machine (VM) on the ESXi host to the physical switch configured as stated above, a cascading lockout of all the uplink interfaces from the ESXi host can occur. To prevent this type of lockout, BPDU Filter can be enabled on the ESXi host to drop any BPDU packets being sent to the physical switch. The caveat is that certain Secure Socket Layer (SSL) virtual private networks that use Windows bridging capability can legitimately generate BPDU packets. The administrator should verify no legitimate BPDU packets are generated by VMs on the ESXi host prior to enabling BPDU Filter. If BPDU Filter is enabled in this situation, enabling Reject Forged Transmits on the virtual switch port group adds protection against Spanning Tree loops.
STIGDate
VMware vSphere 7.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide2025-02-11

Related Frameworks

1 mapping across 5 frameworks
SCF0 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (8) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

CFG-01Configuration Management Program
1.00
END-01Endpoint Device Management (EDM)
1.00
END-04Malicious Code Protection (Anti-Malware)
1.00
END-06Endpoint File Integrity Monitoring (FIM)
1.00
MON-01Continuous Monitoring
1.00
MON-01.7File Integrity Monitoring (FIM)
1.00
CFG-02Secure Baseline Configurations
0.50
CFG-02.7Approved Configuration Deviations
0.50
NIST 800-530 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 2 hops (100) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

AC-12Session Termination
1.00
AC-16(1)Dynamic Attribute Association
1.00
AC-17(1)Monitoring and Control
1.00
AC-2Account Management
1.00
AC-2(1)Automated System Account Management
1.00
AC-2(11)Usage Conditions
1.00
AC-2(3)Disable Accounts
1.00
AC-2(4)Automated Audit Actions
1.00
AC-24(1)Transmit Access Authorization Information
1.00
AC-25Reference Monitor
1.00

+90 more (top 10 by confidence shown)

NIST 800-1710 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (2) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

3.4.1
1.00
3.4.2
1.00
CCI1 mapping
NIST CSF 2.00 mappings

No source states a mapping between these directly.

Also reachable in 3 hops (5) derived by us, not asserted by any source

Each of these is a route we composed by chaining published mappings. No publisher states a relationship between the two endpoints.

PR.PSPlatform Security
0.50

Who does this work

10 NICE work roles and 9 EC-Council certifications.

This is an inference across published mappings, not a single claim by anyone. This check maps to a control, which maps to a Cybersecurity Framework outcome, which NIST assigns to the work roles below. EC-Council separately maps its certifications to those same roles.

A certification prepares someone for a role. It is not evidence that a holder is qualified, and neither NIST nor EC-Council has stated that any certification here addresses this check.

Work-role assignments published by NIST (NICE Framework Components 2.2.0 and the CSF 2.0 OLIR crosswalk). Certification mappings published by EC-Council.

Details

Check Text (C-256419r959010_chk)

From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters. Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings. Select the "Net.BlockGuestBPDU" value and verify it is set to "1". or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following command: Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Net.BlockGuestBPDU If the "Net.BlockGuestBPDU" setting is not set to "1", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-60037r886037_fix)

From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters. Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings. Click "Edit". Select the "Net.BlockGuestBPDU" value and configure it to "1". or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following command: Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Net.BlockGuestBPDU | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value 1