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XCCDF
VMware vSphere 7.0 vCenter Appliance EAM Security Technical Implementation Guide
VMware vSphere 7.0 vCenter Appliance EAM Security Technical Implementation Guide
An XCCDF Benchmark
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File Metadata
33 rules organized in 33 groups
SRG-APP-000001-WSR-000001
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must limit the amount of time that each Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection is kept alive.
Medium Severity
Denial of service (DoS) is one threat against web servers. Many DoS attacks attempt to consume web server resources in such a way that no more resources are available to satisfy legitimate requests. In Tomcat, the "connectionTimeout" attribute sets the number of milliseconds the server will wait after accepting a connection for the request Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) line to be presented. This timeout will also be used when reading the request body (if any). This prevents idle sockets that are not sending HTTP requests from consuming system resources and potentially denying new connections.
SRG-APP-000001-WSR-000001
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must limit the number of concurrent connections permitted.
Medium Severity
Resource exhaustion can occur when an unlimited number of concurrent requests are allowed on a website, facilitating a denial-of-service attack. Unless the number of requests is controlled, the web server can consume enough system resources to cause a system crash. Mitigating this kind of attack will include limiting the number of concurrent HTTP/HTTPS requests. In Tomcat, each incoming request requires a thread for the duration of that request. If more simultaneous requests are received than can be handled by the currently available request processing threads, additional threads will be created up to the value of the "maxThreads" attribute.
SRG-APP-000001-WSR-000001
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must limit the maximum size of a POST request.
Medium Severity
The "maxPostSize" value is the maximum size in bytes of the POST that will be handled by the container FORM URL parameter parsing. Limit its size to reduce exposure to a denial-of-service attack. If "maxPostSize" is not set, the default value of 2097152 (2MB) is used. ESX Agent Manager is configured in its shipping state to not set a value for "maxPostSize".
SRG-APP-000001-WSR-000002
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must protect cookies from cross-site scripting (XSS).
Medium Severity
Cookies are a common way to save session state over the HTTP(S) protocol. If attackers can compromise session data stored in a cookie, they are better able to launch an attack against the server and its applications. When a cookie is tagged with the "HttpOnly" flag, it tells the browser this particular cookie should only be accessed by the originating server. Any attempt to access the cookie from client script is strictly forbidden. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000001-WSR-000002, SRG-APP-000223-WSR-000011, SRG-APP-000439-WSR-000154, SRG-APP-000439-WSR-000155
SRG-APP-000016-WSR-000005
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must record user access in a format that enables monitoring of remote access.
Medium Severity
Remote access can be exploited by an attacker to compromise the server. By recording all remote access activities, it will be possible to determine the attacker's location, intent, and degree of success. Tomcat can be configured with an "AccessLogValve", a component that can be inserted into the request processing pipeline to provide robust access logging. The "AccessLogValve" creates log files in the same format as those created by standard web servers. When "AccessLogValve" is properly configured, log files will contain all the forensic information necessary in the case of a security incident. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000016-WSR-000005, SRG-APP-000089-WSR-000047, SRG-APP-000092-WSR-000055, SRG-APP-000093-WSR-000053, SRG-APP-000095-WSR-000056, SRG-APP-000096-WSR-000057, SRG-APP-000097-WSR-000058, SRG-APP-000098-WSR-000059, SRG-APP-000098-WSR-000060, SRG-APP-000099-WSR-000061, SRG-APP-000100-WSR-000064, SRG-APP-000375-WSR-000171, SRG-APP-000374-WSR-000172
SRG-APP-000089-WSR-000047
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must generate log records for system startup and shutdown.
Medium Severity
Logging must be started as soon as possible when a service starts and as late as possible when a service is stopped. Many forms of suspicious actions can be detected by analyzing logs for unexpected service starts and stops. Also, by starting to log immediately after a service starts, it becomes more difficult for suspicious activity to go unlogged.
SRG-APP-000119-WSR-000069
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager log files must only be modifiable by privileged users.
Medium Severity
Log data is essential in the investigation of events. The accuracy of the information is always pertinent. One of the first steps an attacker will take is the modification or deletion of log records to cover tracks and prolong discovery. The web server must protect the log data from unauthorized modification. ESX Agent Manager restricts all modification of log files by default, but this configuration must be verified. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000119-WSR-000069, SRG-APP-000120-WSR-000070
SRG-APP-000131-WSR-000051
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager application files must be verified for their integrity.
Medium Severity
Verifying that ESX Agent Manager application code is unchanged from its shipping state is essential for file validation and nonrepudiation of the ESX Agent Manager. There is no reason the MD5 hash of the RPM original files should be changed after installation, excluding configuration files. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000131-WSR-000051, SRG-APP-000357-WSR-000150
SRG-APP-000131-WSR-000073
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must only run one webapp.
Medium Severity
VMware ships ESX Agent Managers on the vCenter Server Appliance (VCSA) with one webapp. Any other path is potentially malicious and must be removed. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000131-WSR-000073, SRG-APP-000141-WSR-000075
SRG-APP-000141-WSR-000015
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must not be configured with unsupported realms.
Medium Severity
ESX Agent Manager performs authentication at the application level and not through Tomcat. To eliminate unnecessary features and ensure ESX Agent Manager remains in its shipping state, the lack of a "UserDatabaseRealm" configuration must be confirmed.
SRG-APP-000141-WSR-000075
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must be configured to limit access to internal packages.
Medium Severity
The "package.access" entry in the "catalina.properties" file implements access control at the package level. When properly configured, a Security Exception will be reported if an errant or malicious webapp attempts to access the listed internal classes directly or if a new class is defined under the protected packages. The ESX Agent Manager comes preconfigured with the appropriate packages defined in "package.access", and this configuration must be maintained.
SRG-APP-000141-WSR-000081
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must have Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIMEs) that invoke operating system shell programs disabled.
Medium Severity
MIME mappings tell ESX Agent Manager what type of program various file types and extensions are and what external utilities or programs are needed to execute the file type. By ensuring various shell script MIME types are not included in "web.xml", the server is protected against malicious users tricking the server into executing shell command files.
SRG-APP-000141-WSR-000083
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must have mappings set for Java servlet pages.
Medium Severity
Resource mapping is the process of tying a particular file type to a process in the web server that can serve that type of file to a requesting client and identify which file types are not to be delivered to a client. By not specifying which files can and cannot be served to a user, the web server could deliver to a user web server configuration files, log files, password files, etc. Because Tomcat is a Java-based web server, the main file extension used is *.jsp. This check ensures the *.jsp file type has been properly mapped to servlets.
SRG-APP-000141-WSR-000085
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must not have the Web Distributed Authoring (WebDAV) servlet installed.
Medium Severity
WebDAV is an extension to the HTTP protocol that, when developed, was meant to allow users to create, change, and move documents on a server, typically a web server or web share. WebDAV is not widely used and has serious security concerns because it may allow clients to modify unauthorized files on the web server and must therefore be disabled. Tomcat uses the "org.apache.catalina.servlets.WebdavServlet" servlet to provide WebDAV services. Because the WebDAV service has been found to have an excessive number of vulnerabilities, this servlet must not be installed. ESX Agent Manager does not configure WebDAV by default.
SRG-APP-000141-WSR-000086
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must be configured with memory leak protection.
Medium Severity
The Java Runtime environment can cause a memory leak or lock files under certain conditions. Without memory leak protection, ESX Agent Manager can continue to consume system resources, which will lead to "OutOfMemoryErrors" when reloading web applications. Memory leaks occur when JRE code uses the context class loader to load a singleton, as this will cause a memory leak if a web application class loader happens to be the context class loader at the time. The "JreMemoryLeakPreventionListener" class is designed to initialize these singletons when Tomcat's common class loader is the context class loader. Proper use of JRE memory leak protection will ensure the hosted application does not consume system resources and cause an unstable environment.
SRG-APP-000141-WSR-000087
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must not have any symbolic links in the web content directory tree.
Medium Severity
A web server is designed to deliver content and execute scripts or applications at the request of a client or user. Containing user requests to files in the directory tree of the hosted web application and limiting the execution of scripts and applications guarantees the user is not accessing information protected outside the application's realm. By checking that no symbolic links exist in the document root, the web server is protected from users jumping outside the hosted application directory tree and gaining access to the other directories, including the system root.
SRG-APP-000211-WSR-000030
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager directory tree must have permissions in an out-of-the-box state.
Medium Severity
As a rule, accounts on a web server are to be kept to a minimum. Only administrators, web managers, developers, auditors, and web authors require accounts on the machine hosting the web server. The resources to which these accounts have access must also be closely monitored and controlled. ESX Agent Manager files must be adequately protected with correct permissions as applied out of the box. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000211-WSR-000030, SRG-APP-000380-WSR-000072
SRG-APP-000225-WSR-000140
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must fail to a known safe state if system initialization fails, shutdown fails, or aborts fail.
Medium Severity
Determining a safe state for failure and weighing that against a potential denial of service for users depends on what type of application the web server is hosting. For the ESX Agent Manager, it is preferable that the service abort startup on any initialization failure rather than continuing in a degraded, and potentially insecure, state.
SRG-APP-000246-WSR-000149
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must limit the number of allowed connections.
Medium Severity
Limiting the number of established connections to the ESX Agent Manager is a basic denial-of-service protection. Servers where the limit is too high or unlimited could run out of system resources and negatively affect system availability.
SRG-APP-000251-WSR-000157
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must set URIEncoding to UTF-8.
Medium Severity
Invalid user input occurs when a user inserts data or characters into a hosted application's data entry field and the hosted application is unprepared to process that data. This results in unanticipated application behavior, potentially leading to an application compromise. Invalid user input is one of the primary methods employed when attempting to compromise an application. An attacker can also enter Unicode characters into hosted applications in an effort to break out of the document home or root home directory or bypass security checks. ESX Agent Manager must be configured to use a consistent character set via the "URIEncoding" attribute on the Connector nodes.
SRG-APP-000251-WSR-000157
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must use the "setCharacterEncodingFilter" filter.
Medium Severity
Invalid user input occurs when a user inserts data or characters into a hosted application's data entry field and the hosted application is unprepared to process that data. This results in unanticipated application behavior, potentially leading to an application compromise. Invalid user input is one of the primary methods employed when attempting to compromise an application. An attacker can also enter Unicode characters into hosted applications in an effort to break out of the document home or root home directory or to bypass security checks. VMware uses the standard Tomcat "SetCharacterEncodingFilter" to provide a layer of defense against character encoding attacks. Filters are Java objects that perform filtering tasks on the request to a resource (a servlet or static content), on the response from a resource, or both.
SRG-APP-000266-WSR-000142
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must set the welcome-file node to a default web page.
Medium Severity
Enumeration techniques, such as URL parameter manipulation, rely on being able to obtain information about the web server's directory structure by locating directories without default pages. In this scenario, the web server will display to the user a listing of the files in the directory being accessed. By having a default hosted application web page, the anonymous web user will not obtain directory browsing information or an error message that reveals the server type and version. Ensuring every document directory has an "index.jsp" (or equivalent) file is one approach to mitigating the vulnerability.
SRG-APP-000266-WSR-000142
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must not show directory listings.
Medium Severity
Enumeration techniques, such as URL parameter manipulation, rely on being able to obtain information about the web server's directory structure by locating directories without default pages. In this scenario, the web server will display to the user a listing of the files in the directory being accessed. Ensuring that directory listing is disabled is one approach to mitigating the vulnerability. In Tomcat, directory listing is disabled by default but can be enabled via the "listings" parameter. Ensure this node is not present to have the default effect.
SRG-APP-000266-WSR-000159
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must be configured to show error pages with minimal information.
Medium Severity
Web servers will often display error messages to client users, including enough information to aid in the debugging of the error. The information given back in error messages may display the web server type, version, patches installed, plug-ins and modules installed, type of code being used by the hosted application, and any backends being used for data storage. This information could be used by an attacker to blueprint what type of attacks might be successful. Therefore, the ESX Agent Manager Service must be configured with a catchall error handler that redirects to a standard "error.jsp".
SRG-APP-000266-WSR-000159
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must be configured to not show error reports.
Medium Severity
Web servers will often display error messages to client users, including enough information to aid in the debugging of the error. The information given back in error messages may display the web server type, version, patches installed, plug-ins and modules installed, type of code being used by the hosted application, and any backends being used for data storage. This information could be used by an attacker to blueprint what type of attacks might be successful. Therefore, the Security Token Service must be configured with a catchall error handler that redirects to a standard "error.jsp".
SRG-APP-000266-WSR-000159
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must hide the server version.
Medium Severity
Web servers will often display error messages to client users, including enough information to aid in the debugging of the error. The information given back in error messages may display the web server type, version, patches installed, plug-ins and modules installed, type of code being used by the hosted application, and any backends being used for data storage. This information could be used by an attacker to blueprint what type of attacks might be successful. Therefore, the ESX Agent Manager service must be configured with a catch-all error handler that redirects to a standard "error.jsp".
SRG-APP-000266-WSR-000160
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must not enable support for TRACE requests.
Medium Severity
"TRACE" is a technique for a user to request internal information about Tomcat. This is useful during product development but should not be enabled in production. Allowing an attacker to conduct a TRACE operation against ESX Agent Manager will expose information that would be useful to perform a more targeted attack. ESX Agent Manager provides the "allowTrace" parameter as means to disable responding to TRACE requests.
SRG-APP-000266-WSR-000160
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must have the debug option disabled.
Medium Severity
Information needed by an attacker to begin looking for possible vulnerabilities in a web server includes any information about the web server and plug-ins or modules being used. When debugging or trace information is enabled in a production web server, information about the web server, such as web server type, version, patches installed, plug-ins and modules installed, type of code being used by the hosted application, and any backends being used for data storage may be displayed. Because this information may be placed in logs and general messages during normal operation of the web server, an attacker does not need to cause an error condition to gain this information. ESX Agent Manager can be configured to set the debugging level. By setting the debugging level to zero (0), no debugging information will be provided to a malicious user.
SRG-APP-000358-WSR-000163
1 Rule
Rsyslog must be configured to monitor and ship ESX Agent Manager log files.
Medium Severity
ESX Agent Manager has a number of logs that must be offloaded from the originating system. This information can then be used for diagnostic, forensics, or other purposes relevant to ensuring the availability and integrity of the hosted application. Satisfies: SRG-APP-000358-WSR-000163, SRG-APP-000125-WSR-000071
SRG-APP-000380-WSR-000072
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must set the secure flag for cookies.
Medium Severity
The secure flag is an option that can be set by the application server when sending a new cookie to the user within an HTTP Response. The purpose of the secure flag is to prevent cookies from being observed by unauthorized parties due to the transmission of a cookie in clear text. By setting the secure flag, the browser will prevent the transmission of a cookie over an unencrypted channel. The ESX Agent Manager is configured to only be accessible over a Transport Layer Security (TLS) tunnel, but this cookie flag is still a recommended best practice.
SRG-APP-000383-WSR-000175
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must be configured with the appropriate ports.
Medium Severity
Web servers provide numerous processes, features, and functionalities that use TCP/IP ports. Some of these processes may be deemed unnecessary or too unsecure to run on a production system. The ports the ESX Agent Manager listens on are configured in the "catalina.properties" file and must be verified as accurate to their shipping state.
SRG-APP-000435-WSR-000147
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager must disable the shutdown port.
Medium Severity
An attacker has at least two reasons to stop a web server. The first is to cause a denial of service, and the second is to put in place changes the attacker made to the web server configuration. If the Tomcat shutdown port feature is enabled, a shutdown signal can be sent to the ESX Agent Manager through this port. To ensure availability, the shutdown port must be disabled.
SRG-APP-000516-WSR-000174
1 Rule
ESX Agent Manager default servlet must be set to "readonly".
Medium Severity
The default servlet (or DefaultServlet) is a special servlet provided with Tomcat that is called when no other suitable page is found in a particular folder. The DefaultServlet serves static resources as well as directory listings. The DefaultServlet is configured by default with the "readonly" parameter set to "true" where HTTP commands such as PUT and DELETE are rejected. Changing this to "false" allows clients to delete or modify static resources on the server and to upload new resources. DefaultServlet "readonly" must be set to "true", either literally or by absence (default).