← Back to VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-258756

CAT II (Medium)

The ESXi host must automatically stop shell services after 10 minutes.

Rule ID

SV-258756r933329_rule

STIG

VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R1

CCIs

CCI-001133

Discussion

When the ESXi Shell or Secure Shell (SSH) services are enabled on a host, they will run indefinitely. To avoid having these services left running, set the "ESXiShellTimeOut". The "ESXiShellTimeOut" defines a window of time after which the ESXi Shell and SSH services will be stopped automatically.

Check Content

From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.

Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings.

Select the "UserVars.ESXiShellTimeOut" value and verify it is set to less than "600" and not "0".

or

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

Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name UserVars.ESXiShellTimeOut

If the "UserVars.ESXiShellTimeOut" setting is set to a value greater than "600" or "0", this is a finding.

Fix Text

From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.

Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings.

Click "Edit". Select the "UserVars.ESXiShellTimeOut" value and configure it to "600".

or

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

Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name UserVars.ESXiShellTimeOut | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value 600