The vCenter Server must set the distributed port group Forged Transmits policy to "Reject".

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-256348	VCSA-70-000268	SV-256348r942488_rule		Medium

Description
If the virtual machine operating system changes the Media Access Control (MAC) address, the operating system can send frames with an impersonated source MAC address at any time. This allows an operating system to stage malicious attacks on the devices in a network by impersonating a network adaptor authorized by the receiving network. When the "Forged Transmits" option is set to "Accept", ESXi does not compare source and effective MAC addresses. To protect against MAC impersonation, set the "Forged Transmits" option to "Reject". The host compares the source MAC address being transmitted by the guest operating system with the effective MAC address for its virtual machine adapter to determine if they match. If the addresses do not match, the ESXi host drops the packet.

Description

If the virtual machine operating system changes the Media Access Control (MAC) address, the operating system can send frames with an impersonated source MAC address at any time. This allows an operating system to stage malicious attacks on the devices in a network by impersonating a network adaptor authorized by the receiving network. When the "Forged Transmits" option is set to "Accept", ESXi does not compare source and effective MAC addresses. To protect against MAC impersonation, set the "Forged Transmits" option to "Reject". The host compares the source MAC address being transmitted by the guest operating system with the effective MAC address for its virtual machine adapter to determine if they match. If the addresses do not match, the ESXi host drops the packet.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 7.0 vCenter Security Technical Implementation Guide	2023-12-21

Details

Check Text ( C-60023r942487_chk )
If distributed switches are not used, this is not applicable. From the vSphere Client, go to "Networking". Select a distributed switch and then select a port group. Select Configure >> Settings >> Policies. Verify "Forged Transmits" is set to "Reject". or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the vCenter server, run the following commands: Get-VDSwitch \| Get-VDSecurityPolicy Get-VDPortgroup \| ?{$_.IsUplink -eq $false} \| Get-VDSecurityPolicy If the "Forged Transmits" policy is set to accept for a nonuplink port, and is not documented as an exception, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-60023r942487_chk )

If distributed switches are not used, this is not applicable.

From the vSphere Client, go to "Networking".

Select a distributed switch and then select a port group.

Select Configure >> Settings >> Policies.

Verify "Forged Transmits" is set to "Reject".

or

From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the vCenter server, run the following commands:

Get-VDSwitch | Get-VDSecurityPolicy
Get-VDPortgroup | ?{$_.IsUplink -eq $false} | Get-VDSecurityPolicy

If the "Forged Transmits" policy is set to accept for a nonuplink port, and is not documented as an exception, this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-59966r885654_fix)
From the vSphere Client, go to "Networking". Select a distributed switch and then select a port group. Select Configure >> Settings >> Policies. Click "Edit". Click the "Security" tab. Set "Forged Transmits" to "Reject". Click "OK". or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the vCenter server, run the following commands: Get-VDSwitch \| Get-VDSecurityPolicy \| Set-VDSecurityPolicy -ForgedTransmits $false Get-VDPortgroup \| ?{$_.IsUplink -eq $false} \| Get-VDSecurityPolicy \| Set-VDSecurityPolicy -ForgedTransmits $false

Fix Text (F-59966r885654_fix)

From the vSphere Client, go to "Networking".

Select a distributed switch and then select a port group.

Select Configure >> Settings >> Policies.

Click "Edit".

Click the "Security" tab.

Set "Forged Transmits" to "Reject".

Click "OK".

or

From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the vCenter server, run the following commands:

Get-VDSwitch | Get-VDSecurityPolicy | Set-VDSecurityPolicy -ForgedTransmits $false
Get-VDPortgroup | ?{$_.IsUplink -eq $false} | Get-VDSecurityPolicy | Set-VDSecurityPolicy -ForgedTransmits $false