The vCenter Server must be installed using a service account instead of a built-in Windows account.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-39548	VCENTER-000008	SV-51406r1_rule		Low

Description
The Microsoft Windows built-in system account or a user account can be used to run vCenter Server. With a user account, the Windows authentication for SQL Server can be enabled; it also provides more security. The user account must be an administrator on the local machine. In the installation wizard, specify the account name as DomainName\Username. If using SQL Server for the vCenter database, the SQL Server database must be configured to allow the domain account access to SQL Server. The Microsoft Windows built-in system account has more permissions and rights on the server than the vCenter Server system requires, which can contribute to security problems. A local user, administrative level account with limited permissions and rights must be set up for the vCenter Server system.

Description

The Microsoft Windows built-in system account or a user account can be used to run vCenter Server. With a user account, the Windows authentication for SQL Server can be enabled; it also provides more security. The user account must be an administrator on the local machine. In the installation wizard, specify the account name as DomainName\Username. If using SQL Server for the vCenter database, the SQL Server database must be configured to allow the domain account access to SQL Server. The Microsoft Windows built-in system account has more permissions and rights on the server than the vCenter Server system requires, which can contribute to security problems. A local user, administrative level account with limited permissions and rights must be set up for the vCenter Server system.

STIG	Date
VMware vCenter Server Version 5 Security Technical Implementation Guide	2014-11-10

Details

Check Text ( C-46773r1_chk )
Verify vCenter Server was installed using a special-purpose user account on the Windows host with a local-only administrator role. This account should have the "Act as part of the operating system" privilege, and write access to the local file system with a local-only administrator role. If the vCenter Server was not installed with a special-purpose, local-only administrator role with the "Act as part of the operating system" privilege, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-46773r1_chk )

Verify vCenter Server was installed using a special-purpose user account on the Windows host with a local-only administrator role. This account should have the "Act as part of the operating system" privilege, and write access to the local file system with a local-only administrator role.

If the vCenter Server was not installed with a special-purpose, local-only administrator role with the "Act as part of the operating system" privilege, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-44561r1_fix)
Re-install the vCenter Server with a special-purpose, local-only administrator role with the "Act as part of the operating system" privilege.