| Intrusion-monitoring tools can accumulate a significant amount of sensitive data; examples could include user account information and application data not related to the intrusion monitoring application itself. Intrusion monitoring tools also obtain information that is critical to conducting forensic analysis on attacks that occur within the network. This data may be sensitive in nature. Information obtained by intrusion monitoring applications in the course of evaluating network and system security needs to be protected. While this is an operating system requirement, the data collected may be in different files or locations depending upon the IDS/IPS product being used. Permanent not a finding - ESXi is neither a GP environment, nor does it utilize a COS. ESXi provides for console functionality (for initial configuration, troubleshooting, and Technical Support) via the Direct Connect User Interface (DCUI) and Tech Support Mode. These strongly controlled interfaces provide GP-like console functionality augmented for security and trust. All binaries executed in ESXi are signed, keyed, or validated by strong controls. There is no facility to interpret code at runtime and the compiled modules are subject to both the controls for execution and a default-deny policy (for unsigned code), integral to the kernel. Based on Regulatory Compliance, VMware believes that the customers should categorize ESX/ESXi hypervisors as they would for other network based appliances and treat them accordingly. Following the Best Practices outlined in the vSphere hardening guides reasonably ensures the security and integrity of the ESXi host's management interfaces. |
