The ESXi host must not use the default Active Directory ESX Admin group.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-258796	ESXI-80-000241	SV-258796r959010_rule		Medium

Description
When adding ESXi hosts to Active Directory, all user/group accounts assigned to the Active Directory group "ESX Admins" will have full administrative access to the host. If this group is not controlled or known to the system administrators, it may be used for inappropriate access to the host. Therefore, the default group must be changed to a site-specific Active Directory group and membership must be severely restricted.

Description

When adding ESXi hosts to Active Directory, all user/group accounts assigned to the Active Directory group "ESX Admins" will have full administrative access to the host. If this group is not controlled or known to the system administrators, it may be used for inappropriate access to the host. Therefore, the default group must be changed to a site-specific Active Directory group and membership must be severely restricted.

STIG	Date
VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide	2024-07-11

Details

Check Text ( C-62536r933447_chk )
For systems that do not use Active Directory, this is not applicable. From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters. Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings. Select the "Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup" value and verify it is not set to "ESX Admins". or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following command: Get-VMHost \| Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup If the "Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup" setting is set to "ESX Admins", this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-62536r933447_chk )

For systems that do not use Active Directory, this is not applicable.

From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.

Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings.

Select the "Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup" value and verify it is not set to "ESX Admins".

or

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

Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup

If the "Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup" setting is set to "ESX Admins", this is a finding.

Fix Text (F-62445r933448_fix)
From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters. Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings. Click "Edit". Select the "Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup" key and configure its value to an appropriate Active Directory group other than "ESX Admins". or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host, run the following command: Get-VMHost \| Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup \| Set-AdvancedSetting -Value "" Note: Changing the group name does not remove the permissions of the previous group.

Fix Text (F-62445r933448_fix)

From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.

Select the ESXi Host >> Configure >> System >> Advanced System Settings.

Click "Edit". Select the "Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup" key and configure its value to an appropriate Active Directory group other than "ESX Admins".

or

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

Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Config.HostAgent.plugins.hostsvc.esxAdminsGroup | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value ""

Note: Changing the group name does not remove the permissions of the previous group.