The ESXi host must be configured to disable nonessential capabilities by disabling the ESXi shell.

An XCCDF Rule

Description

<VulnDiscussion>The ESXi Shell is an interactive command line environment available locally from the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI) or remotely via SSH. Activities performed from the ESXi Shell bypass vCenter role-based access control (RBAC) and audit controls. The ESXi shell must only be turned on when needed to troubleshoot/resolve problems that cannot be fixed through the vSphere client.</VulnDiscussion><FalsePositives></FalsePositives><FalseNegatives></FalseNegatives><Documentable>false</Documentable><Mitigations></Mitigations><SeverityOverrideGuidance></SeverityOverrideGuidance><PotentialImpacts></PotentialImpacts><ThirdPartyTools></ThirdPartyTools><MitigationControl></MitigationControl><Responsibility></Responsibility><IAControls></IAControls>

ID: SV-258755r933326_rule
Severity: Medium
References: CCI-000381
Updated: 20 days ago

From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.

Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Services.

Under "Services", select the "ESXi Shell" service and click the "Stop" button.
Click the "Edit Startup policy..." button.

Select the "Start and stop manually" radio button.

Click "OK".

or

From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following commands:

Get-VMHost | Get-VMHostService | Where {$_.Label -eq "ESXi Shell"} | Set-VMHostService -Policy Off
Get-VMHost | Get-VMHostService | Where {$_.Label -eq "ESXi Shell"} | Stop-VMHostService

The ESXi host must be configured to disable nonessential capabilities by disabling the ESXi shell.

Description

Remediation - Manual Procedure