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The vCenter Server must separate authentication and authorization for administrators.

Overview

Finding IDVersionRule IDIA ControlsSeverity
V-258963VCSA-80-000298SV-258963r961863_ruleCCI-000366medium
Description
Many organizations do both authentication and authorization using a centralized directory service such as Active Directory. Attackers who compromise an identity source can often add themselves to authorization groups, and simply log into systems they should not otherwise have access to. Additionally, reliance on central identity systems means that the administrators of those systems are potentially infrastructure administrators, too, as they can add themselves to infrastructure access groups at will. The use of local SSO groups for authorization helps prevent this avenue of attack by allowing the centralized identity source to still authenticate users but moving authorization into vCenter itself.
STIGDate
VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Security Technical Implementation Guide2026-05-23

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
CCI-000366
1.00
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.

DE.CM-09
1.00
PR.PS-01
1.00
PR.DS-10
0.50
PR.PSPlatform Security
0.50
PR.PS-05
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-258963r961863_chk)

From the vSphere Client, go to Administration >> Access Control >> Roles. View the Administrator role and any other role providing administrative access to vCenter to verify the users and/or groups assigned to it by clicking on "Usage". or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the vCenter server, run the following command: Get-VIPermission | Sort Role | Select Role,Principal,Entity,Propagate,IsGroup | FT -Auto If any user or group is directly assigned a role with administrative access to vCenter that is from an identity provider, this is a finding. Note: Users and/or groups assigned to roles should be from the "VSPHERE.LOCAL" identity source.

Fix Text (F-62612r934546_fix)

To add groups from an identity provider to the local SSO Administrators group, as an example, do the following: From the vSphere Client, go to Administration >> Single Sign On >> Groups. Select the Administrators group and click "Edit". In the "Add Members" section, select the identity source and type the name of the target user/group in the search bar. Select the target user/group to add them and click "Save". Note: A new SSO group or groups can be created as needed and used to provide authorization to vCenter. To remove identity provider users/groups from a role, do the following: From the vSphere Client, go to Administration >> Access Control >> Global Permissions. Select the offending user/group and click "Delete". Note: If permissions are assigned on a specific object, then the role must be updated where it is assigned (for example, at the cluster level).