ESXI5-VMNET-000019 - The system must ensure the dvPortgroup Promiscuous Mode policy is set to reject.

Information

When promiscuous mode is enabled for a dvPortgroup, all virtual machines connected to the dvPortgroup have the potential of reading all packets across that network, meaning only the virtual machines connected to that dvPortgroup. Promiscuous mode is disabled by default on the ESXi Server, and this is the recommended setting. However, there might be a legitimate reason to enable it for debugging, monitoring or troubleshooting reasons. Security devices might require the ability to see all packets on a vSwitch. An exception should be made for the dvPortgroups that these applications are connected to, in order to allow for full-time visibility to the traffic on that dvPortgroup.

Solution

From the vSphere Client/vCenter Server as administrator:

Go to Home >> Inventory >> Hosts and clusters.
Select each ESXi host with active virtual switches connected to active VMs requiring securing.
Go to tab Home >> Inventory >> Networking. Individually select each dvPortgroup, then go to tab Summary >> Edit Settings >> Policies >> Security.
Set the 'Promiscuous Mode' keyword to 'Reject'.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_VMW_ESXi5_Server_V2R1_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT

References: 800-53|CM-6b., CAT|II, CCI|CCI-000366, Group-ID|V-39376, Rule-ID|SV-250561r798682_rule, STIG-ID|ESXI5-VMNET-000019, STIG-Legacy|SV-51234, STIG-Legacy|V-39376, Vuln-ID|V-250561

Plugin: VMware

Control ID: 84da510fec11f3aec98749d633124426bd69943588a90e4b1a327dfc85f31182