Unauthorized serial devices must be disconnected on the virtual machine.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-237090	VMCH-65-000031	SV-237090r640107_rule		Medium

Description
Ensure that no device is connected to a virtual machine if it is not required. For example, floppy, serial and parallel ports are rarely used for virtual machines in a datacenter environment, and CD/DVD drives are usually connected only temporarily during software installation.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 6.5 Virtual Machine Security Technical Implementation Guide	2021-09-22

Details

Check Text ( C-40309r640105_chk )
From the vSphere Web Client right-click the Virtual Machine and go to Edit Settings. Review the VMs hardware and verify no serial devices exist. or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host or vCenter server, run the following command: Get-VM \| Where {$_.ExtensionData.Config.Hardware.Device.DeviceInfo.Label -match "serial"} If a virtual machine has a serial device present, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-40309r640105_chk )

From the vSphere Web Client right-click the Virtual Machine and go to Edit Settings. Review the VMs hardware and verify no serial devices exist.

or

From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host or vCenter server, run the following command:

Get-VM | Where {$_.ExtensionData.Config.Hardware.Device.DeviceInfo.Label -match "serial"}

If a virtual machine has a serial device present, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-40272r640106_fix)
The VM must be powered off in order to remove a serial device. From the vSphere Web Client right-click the Virtual Machine and go to Edit Settings. Select the serial device and click the circle-x to remove then OK.