Virtual machines (VMs) must remove unneeded parallel devices.

Overview

Finding ID	Version	Rule ID	IA Controls	Severity
V-258724	VMCH-80-000211	SV-258724r959010_rule		Medium

Description
Ensure 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 data center environment, and CD/DVD drives are usually connected only temporarily during software installation.

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

Details

Check Text ( C-62464r933231_chk )
Parallel devices are no longer visible through the vSphere Client and must be done via the Application Programming Interface (API) or PowerCLI. 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 "parallel"} If a virtual machine has a parallel device present, this is a finding.

Check Text ( C-62464r933231_chk )

Parallel devices are no longer visible through the vSphere Client and must be done via the Application Programming Interface (API) or PowerCLI.

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 "parallel"}

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

Fix Text (F-62373r933232_fix)
Parallel devices are no longer visible through the vSphere Client and must be done via the Application Programming Interface (API) or PowerCLI. The VM must be powered off to remove a parallel device. From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host or vCenter server, run the following commands: $pport = (Get-VM -Name ).ExtensionData.Config.Hardware.Device \| Where {$_.DeviceInfo.Label -match "Parallel"} $spec = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualMachineConfigSpec $spec.DeviceChange += New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualDeviceConfigSpec $spec.DeviceChange[-1].device = $pport $spec.DeviceChange[-1].operation = "remove" (Get-VM -Name ).ExtensionData.ReconfigVM($spec)

Fix Text (F-62373r933232_fix)

Parallel devices are no longer visible through the vSphere Client and must be done via the Application Programming Interface (API) or PowerCLI.

The VM must be powered off to remove a parallel device.

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

$pport = (Get-VM -Name ).ExtensionData.Config.Hardware.Device | Where {$_.DeviceInfo.Label -match "Parallel"}
$spec = New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualMachineConfigSpec
$spec.DeviceChange += New-Object VMware.Vim.VirtualDeviceConfigSpec
$spec.DeviceChange[-1].device = $pport
$spec.DeviceChange[-1].operation = "remove"
(Get-VM -Name ).ExtensionData.ReconfigVM($spec)