The SA must verify the integrity of the installation media before installing ESXi.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-239324	ESXI-67-000071	SV-239324r674901_rule		High

Description
Always check the SHA1 or MD5 hash after downloading an ISO, offline bundle, or patch to ensure integrity and authenticity of the downloaded files.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 6.7 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide	2022-01-05

Details

Check Text ( C-42557r674899_chk )
The downloaded ISO, offline bundle, or patch hash must be verified against the vendor's checksum to ensure the integrity and authenticity of the files. See some typical command line example(s) for both the md5 and sha1 hash check(s) below: # md5sum .iso # sha1sum .iso If any of the system's downloaded ISO, offline bundle, or system patch hashes cannot be verified against the vendor's checksum, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-42557r674899_chk )

The downloaded ISO, offline bundle, or patch hash must be verified against the vendor's checksum to ensure the integrity and authenticity of the files.

See some typical command line example(s) for both the md5 and sha1 hash check(s) below:

# md5sum .iso
# sha1sum .iso

If any of the system's downloaded ISO, offline bundle, or system patch hashes cannot be verified against the vendor's checksum, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-42516r674900_fix)
If the hash returned from the "md5sum" or "sha1sum" commands do not match the vendor's hash, the downloaded software must be discarded. If the physical media is obtained from VMware and the security seal is broken, the software must be returned to VMware for replacement.