The ESXi host must disable virtual hardware management network interfaces.
Overview
| Finding ID | Version | Rule ID | IA Controls | Severity |
| V-265977 | ESXI-80-000250 | SV-265977r1003587_rule | CCI-000366 | medium |
| Description | ||||
| Hardware management controllers often present virtual or USB NICs to the ESXi host. These can be used as backdoors and should be deactivated both in the hardware configuration and in ESXi. | ||||
| STIG | Date | |||
| VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide | 2025-02-11 | |||
Details
Check Text (C-265977r1003587_chk)
From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.
Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings.
Select the "Net.BMCNetworkEnable" value and verify it is set to "0".
or
From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following command:
Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Net.BMCNetworkEnable
If the "Net.BMCNetworkEnable" setting is not set to "0", this is a finding.
Fix Text (F-69803r1003586_fix)
From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.
Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings.
Click "Edit". Select the "Net.BMCNetworkEnable" value and configure it to "0".
or
From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following command:
Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Net.BMCNetworkEnable | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value 0