V-256415

Discussion

When enabled, vSphere performs bidirectional authentication of both the iSCSI target and host. When not authenticating both the iSCSI target and host, there is potential for a man-in-the-middle attack, in which an attacker might impersonate either side of the connection to steal data. Bidirectional authentication mitigates this risk.

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If iSCSI is not used, this is not applicable.

From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.

Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> Storage >> Storage Adapters.

Select the iSCSI adapter >> Properties >> Authentication >> Method.

View the CHAP configuration and verify CHAP is required for target and host authentication.

or

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

Get-VMHost | Get-VMHostHba | Where {$_.Type -eq "iscsi"} | Select AuthenticationProperties -ExpandProperty AuthenticationProperties

If iSCSI is used and CHAP is not set to "required" for both the target and host, this is a finding.

If iSCSI is used and unique CHAP secrets are not used for each host, this is a finding.