STIGQter: STIG Summary: VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance Secure Token Service (STS) Security Technical Implementation Guide Version: 2 Release: 2 Benchmark Date: 01 Jul 2026:

The vCenter STS service must limit the number of times that each Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection is kept alive.

DISA Rule

SV-258986r960735_rule

Vulnerability Number

V-258986

Group Title

SRG-APP-000001-AS-000001

Rule Version

VCST-80-000126

Severity

CAT II

CCI(s)

• CCI-000054 - Limit the number of concurrent sessions for each organization-defined account and/or account type to an organization-defined number.

Weight

10

Fix Recommendation

Navigate to and open:

/usr/lib/vmware-sso/vmware-sts/conf/server.xml

Configure the <Connector> node with the value:

maxKeepAliveRequests="100"

Restart the service with the following command:

# vmon-cli --restart sts

Check Contents

The connection timeout should not be unlimited by setting it to "-1".

At the command prompt, run the following command:

# xmllint --xpath "//Connector[@maxKeepAliveRequests = '-1']" /usr/lib/vmware-sso/vmware-sts/conf/server.xml

Expected result:

XPath set is empty

If any connectors are returned, this is a finding.

Vulnerability Number

V-258986

Documentable

False

Rule Version

VCST-80-000126

Severity Override Guidance

The connection timeout should not be unlimited by setting it to "-1".

At the command prompt, run the following command:

# xmllint --xpath "//Connector[@maxKeepAliveRequests = '-1']" /usr/lib/vmware-sso/vmware-sts/conf/server.xml

Expected result:

XPath set is empty

If any connectors are returned, this is a finding.

Check Content Reference

M

Target Key

5567