Virtual machines (VMs) must remove unneeded USB devices.

An XCCDF Rule

Description

<VulnDiscussion>Ensure no device is connected to a virtual machine if it is not required. For example, floppy, serial, and parallel ports are rarely used for virtual machines in a data center environment, and CD/DVD drives are usually connected only temporarily during software installation.</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility></Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>

ID: SV-258726r933239_rule
Severity: Medium
References: CCI-000366
Updated: 8 months ago

For each virtual machine do the following:

From the vSphere Client, right-click the Virtual Machine and go to "Edit Settings".

Select the USB controller, click the circled "X" to remove it, and click "OK".
or

From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host or vCenter server, run the following command:

Get-VM "VM Name" | Get-USBDevice | Remove-USBDevice

Note: This will not remove the USB controller, just any connected devices.

Virtual machines (VMs) must remove unneeded USB devices.

Description

Remediation - Manual Procedure