Detections
Analytics

5.5 (L2) Host should deactivate virtual hardware management network interfaces

Warning! Audit Deprecated

This audit has been deprecated and will be removed in a future update.

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Information

Hardware management controllers may present virtual or USB NICs to the host, potentially serving as backdoors if left active. It's recommended to deactivate these interfaces both in the hardware configuration and within ESXi to prevent unauthorized access. The parameter governing this behavior is Net.BMCNetworkEnable with a recommended value of 0.

Deactivating virtual hardware management network interfaces minimizes the attack surface, thereby enhancing the security posture of the host.

Solution

Impact:

While this control enhances security, it may impact third-party managed solutions that require these interfaces, necessitating alternative configurations or additional management considerations.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/19200

Item Details

References: CSCv7|9.2

Plugin: VMware

Control ID: e6de3986d36704e991d5873afc928a9d399ef1d2b0ee059fca0f94c9bfa7b041