The vCenter Server for Windows must terminate management sessions after 10 minutes of inactivity.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-216828	VCWN-65-000004	SV-216828r612237_rule		Medium

Description
Terminating an idle session within a short time period reduces the window of opportunity for unauthorized personnel to take control of a management session enabled on the console or console port that has been left unattended. In addition, quickly terminating an idle session will also free up resources committed by the managed network element. Terminating network connections associated with communications sessions includes, for example, de-allocating associated TCP/IP address/port pairs at the operating system level, or de-allocating networking assignments at the application level if multiple application sessions are using a single, operating system level network connection. This does not mean that the application terminates all sessions or network access; it only ends the inactive session and releases the resources associated with that session.

Description

Terminating an idle session within a short time period reduces the window of opportunity for unauthorized personnel to take control of a management session enabled on the console or console port that has been left unattended. In addition, quickly terminating an idle session will also free up resources committed by the managed network element. Terminating network connections associated with communications sessions includes, for example, de-allocating associated TCP/IP address/port pairs at the operating system level, or de-allocating networking assignments at the application level if multiple application sessions are using a single, operating system level network connection. This does not mean that the application terminates all sessions or network access; it only ends the inactive session and releases the resources associated with that session.

STIG	Date
VMW vSphere 6.5 vCenter Server for Windows Security Technical Implementation Guide	2021-06-23

Details

Check Text ( C-18059r366198_chk )
By default, vSphere Web Client sessions terminate after "120" minutes of idle time, requiring the user to log in again to resume using the client. You can view the timeout value by viewing the "webclient.properties" file. On the system where vCenter is installed locate the "webclient.properties" file. Appliance: /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/ Windows: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vsphere-client Find the "session.timeout =" line in the "webclient.properties" file. If the session timeout is not set to "10" in the "webclient.properties" file, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-18059r366198_chk )

By default, vSphere Web Client sessions terminate after "120" minutes of idle time, requiring the user to log in again to resume using the client. You can view the timeout value by viewing the "webclient.properties" file.

On the system where vCenter is installed locate the "webclient.properties" file.

Appliance:
/etc/vmware/vsphere-client/

Windows:
C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vsphere-client

Find the "session.timeout =" line in the "webclient.properties" file.

If the session timeout is not set to "10" in the "webclient.properties" file, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-18057r366199_fix)
Change the timeout value by editing the "webclient.properties" file. On the system where vCenter is installed locate the "webclient.properties" file. Appliance: /etc/vmware/vsphere-client/ Windows: C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vsphere-client Edit the file to include the line "session.timeout = 10" where "10" is the timeout value in minutes. Uncomment the line if necessary. After editing the file the vSphere Web Client service must be restarted.

Fix Text (F-18057r366199_fix)

Change the timeout value by editing the "webclient.properties" file.

On the system where vCenter is installed locate the "webclient.properties" file.

Appliance:
/etc/vmware/vsphere-client/

Windows:
C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vsphere-client

Edit the file to include the line "session.timeout = 10" where "10" is the timeout value in minutes. Uncomment the line if necessary.

After editing the file the vSphere Web Client service must be restarted.