STIGQter STIGQter: STIG Summary: VMware vSphere 7.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 1 Release: 4 Benchmark Date: 02 Apr 2025:

The ESXi host must enable audit logging.

DISA Rule

SV-256436r959010_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-256436

Group Title

SRG-OS-000480-VMM-002000

Rule Version

ESXI-70-000084

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

From an ESXi shell, run the following commands:

Optional: Set the audit log location to persistent storage. This is set to "/scratch/auditLog" by default and does not normally need to be changed.

# esxcli system auditrecords local set --directory="/full/path/here"

Mandatory:

# esxcli system auditrecords local set --size=100
# esxcli system auditrecords local enable
# esxcli system auditrecords remote enable
# esxcli system syslog reload

or

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

$esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2
$arguments = $esxcli.system.auditrecords.local.set.CreateArgs()
*Optional* $arguments.directory = "/full/path/here"
$arguments.size="100"
$esxcli.system.auditrecords.local.set.Invoke($arguments)
$esxcli.system.auditrecords.local.enable.Invoke()
$esxcli.system.auditrecords.remote.enable.Invoke()

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From an ESXi shell, run the following command:

# esxcli system auditrecords get

or

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

$esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2
$esxcli.system.auditrecords.get.invoke()|Format-List

Example result:

AuditRecordRemoteTransmissionActive : true
AuditRecordStorageActive : true
AuditRecordStorageCapacity : 100
AuditRecordStorageDirectory : /scratch/auditLog

Note: The "Audit Record Storage Directory" may differ from the default above, but it must still be located on persistent storage.

If audit record storage is not active and configured, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-256436

Documentable

False

Rule Version

ESXI-70-000084

Severity Override Guidance

From an ESXi shell, run the following command:

# esxcli system auditrecords get

or

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

$esxcli = Get-EsxCli -v2
$esxcli.system.auditrecords.get.invoke()|Format-List

Example result:

AuditRecordRemoteTransmissionActive : true
AuditRecordStorageActive : true
AuditRecordStorageCapacity : 100
AuditRecordStorageDirectory : /scratch/auditLog

Note: The "Audit Record Storage Directory" may differ from the default above, but it must still be located on persistent storage.

If audit record storage is not active and configured, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5518