Remediate vSphere 8

Remediating vSphere 8 for STIG Compliance

Overview

Remediating vSphere for STIG compliance involves configuring ESXi, Virtual Machines, vCenter, and the vCenter appliance.

When remediating vSphere we will split up tasks between product and appliance based controls which are defined as follows:

Product Control: Configurations that interact with the Product via the User Interface or API that are exposed to administrators. Whether these are Default or Non-Default, the risk of mis-configuration effecting availability of the product is low but could impact how the environment is operated if not assessed.
Appliance Control: Appliance controls deal with the underlying components (databases, web servers, Photon OS, etc) that make up the product. Altering these add risk to product availability without precautionary steps and care in implementation. Identifying and relying on Default settings in this category makes this category less risky (Default Appliance Controls should be seen as a positive).

To remediate vSphere, PowerCLI is the automation tool used, while for the VCSA we will use Ansible. For the vCenter appliance the remediation is performed via SSH. It is recommended to disable SSH on vCenter after configuration is complete.

Prerequisites

Versions listed below were used for this documentation. Other versions of these tools may work as well but if issues are found it is recommended to try the versions listed here.

Powershell 7.3.4/PowerCLI 13.1 or newer
VMware.Vsphere.SsoAdmin PowerCLI Module 1.3.9 or newer
Ansible 2.14.2
A vSphere 8.x U1 or newer environment.
An account with sufficient privileges to configure vSphere.

Assumptions

Commands are being ran from a Linux machine. Windows will also work (for the PowerCLI portions only) but paths and commands may need to be adjusted from the examples.
The DOD Compliance and Automation repository downloaded and extracted to /usr/share/stigs.
Ansible installed and all playbook dependencies resolved as provided in the requirements.yml file in each playbook. Install with ansible-galaxy roles install -r requirements.yml.
The dependent Photon OS Ansible roles(Photon 3.0 for U1 and Photon 4 for U2) installed and available. Verify role installation with ansible-galaxy role list.

Remediate vSphere (Product Controls)

Important

The example commands below are specific to the product version and the supported STIG content for the version you are running. Select the example command tabs for the version in your environment.

Warning

Before running it is highly advised to have a backup of vCenter and/or snapshot available if a rollback is required. For VCSA only the playbook will backup files configured before updates and place them under the /tmp directory in a folder directly on the vCenter appliance.

Create Powershell credential for vCenter connection

The PowerCLI scripts provided use a Powershell Credential stored in a variable to authenticate to vCenter and should be established before attempting to run the scripts.

# Run the following command to generate a credential. Substitute the username as needed in your environment.
pwsh

$vccred = Get-Credential

PowerShell credential request
Enter your credentials.
User: administrator@vsphere.local
Password for user administrator@vsphere.local: ****************

Remediating ESXi product controls

To remediate ESXi hosts we have provided a PowerCLI script that will target a single host or a vSphere cluster based on parameters provided to the script.

Note: There are some controls that cannot be remediated with PowerCLI and are not addressed by this script. The output will indicate that these are manual controls.

Gather environment information

In order to run the script effectively it must be provided with the organizations environment specific information.

Review the below parameters and gather the information needed to run the script:

[CmdletBinding()]
param (
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
  [string]$vcenter,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
  [pscredential]$vccred,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,ParameterSetName="hostname")]
  [string]$hostname,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,ParameterSetName="cluster")]
  [string]$cluster,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="Enter the path for the output report. Example /tmp")]
  [string]$reportpath,  
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
  HelpMessage="Enter the Active Directory Admins group to use for administrative access to ESXi")]
  [string]$esxAdminGroup,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
  HelpMessage="Enter allowed IP ranges for the ESXi firewall in comma separated format.  For Example "192.168.0.0/16","10.0.0.0/8" ")]
  [string[]]$allowedIPs,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="Enter the syslog server for the ESXi server(s). Example tcp://log.domain.local:514")]
  [string]$syslogServer,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="Enable this option if VMware vRealize Log Insight is used to manage syslog on the ESXi host(s).")]
  [switch]$logInsight,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
  HelpMessage="Enter NTP servers.  For Example "10.1.1.1","10.1.1.2" ")]
  [string[]]$ntpServers,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="Specify the native VLAN Id configured on the ports going to the ESXi Hosts.  If none is specified the default of 1 will be used.")]
  [string]$nativeVLAN = "1"
)

[CmdletBinding()]
param (
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
  [string]$vcenter,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
  [pscredential]$vccred,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,ParameterSetName="hostname")]
  [string]$hostname,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,ParameterSetName="cluster")]
  [string]$cluster,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="Enter the path for the output report. Example /tmp")]
  [string]$reportpath,  
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
  HelpMessage="Enter the Active Directory Admins group to use for administrative access to ESXi")]
  [string]$esxAdminGroup,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
  HelpMessage="Enter allowed IP ranges for the ESXi firewall in comma separated format.  For Example "192.168.0.0/16","10.0.0.0/8" ")]
  [string[]]$allowedIPs,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="Enter the syslog server for the ESXi server(s). Example tcp://log.domain.local:514")]
  [string]$syslogServer,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="Enable this option if VMware vRealize Log Insight is used to manage syslog on the ESXi host(s).")]
  [switch]$logInsight,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
  HelpMessage="Enter NTP servers.  For Example "10.1.1.1","10.1.1.2" ")]
  [string[]]$ntpServers,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="Specify the native VLAN Id configured on the ports going to the ESXi Hosts.  If none is specified the default of 1 will be used.")]
  [string]$nativeVLAN = "1"
)

Warning

The allowedIPs parameter is used to configure ESXi service firewall rules and updates each service from allowing all IP addresses to restricting traffic to the ranges provided. Carefully evaluate the value provided here for suitable ranges in your environment. If service specific IP ranges are desired then this control should be disabled and remediated manually or with other means outside of the script provided.

Disabling Controls

The script includes variables to enable or disable controls by STIG ID. All controls are all enabled by default and can be turned off by changing these variables to $false for a specific control.

A snippet of these variables is shown below.

##### Enable or Disable specific STIG Remediations #####
$controlsenabled = [ordered]@{
  ESXI80000005 = $true  #Account Lock Failures
  ESXI80000006 = $true  #Consent Banner Welcome
  ESXI80000008 = $true  #Lockdown Mode
  ESXI80000010 = $true  #Host Client Timeout

Run remediation script on target ESXi hosts

This example will remediate all hosts in the vSphere cluster named cluster0. If running on a single host is desired, specify the hostname parameter instead of cluster and provide the hostname as displayed in vCenter.

# Navigate to the powercli folder
cd /usr/share/stigs/vsphere/8.0/v1r1-stig/vsphere/powercli

# Running the script.
./VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_ESXi_Remediation.ps1 -vcenter 10.182.177.21 -vccred $vccred -cluster "cluster0" -esxAdminGroup "MyESXiGroup" -allowedIPs "10.10.10.0/24","10.10.11.0/24" -ntpServers "time-a-g.nist.gov","time-b-g.nist.gov" -syslogServer "tcp://loginsight.vmware.com:514" -reportpath /tmp/reports

# Snippet from the output of running the script.
2:11:17 PM ...Remediating STIG ID:ESXI-80-000244 with Title: The ESXi host must enforce the exclusive running of executables from approved VIBs.
2:11:17 PM ...Setting VMkernel.Boot.execInstalledOnly was incorrectly set to False on 10.182.180.5...setting to true
VMkernel.Boot.execI… True                 VMHost
2:11:18 PM ...Setting VMkernel.Boot.execInstalledOnly was incorrectly set to False on 10.182.182.193...setting to true
VMkernel.Boot.execI… True                 VMHost
2:11:20 PM ...Setting VMkernel.Boot.execInstalledOnly was incorrectly set to False on 10.182.183.107...setting to true
VMkernel.Boot.execI… True                 VMHost
2:11:21 PM ...Remediating STIG ID:ESXI-80-000245 with Title: The ESXi host must use sufficient entropy for cryptographic operations.
2:11:22 PM ...disableHwrng set correctly to FALSE on 10.182.180.5
2:11:22 PM ...entropySources set correctly to 0 on 10.182.180.5
2:11:23 PM ...disableHwrng set correctly to FALSE on 10.182.182.193
2:11:24 PM ...entropySources set correctly to 0 on 10.182.182.193
2:11:25 PM ...disableHwrng set correctly to FALSE on 10.182.183.107
2:11:25 PM ...entropySources set correctly to 0 on 10.182.183.107
2:11:25 PM ...Remediating STIG ID:ESXI-80-000246 with Title: The ESXi host must not enable log filtering.
2:11:25 PM ...log filtering set correctly to false on 10.182.180.5
2:11:25 PM ...log filtering set correctly to false on 10.182.182.193
2:11:26 PM ...log filtering set correctly to false on 10.182.183.107
2:11:26 PM ...Remediating STIG ID:ESXI-80-000008 with Title: The ESXi host must enable lockdown mode.
2:11:26 PM ...Enabling Lockdown mode with level lockdownNormal on 10.182.180.5
2:11:26 PM ...Enabling Lockdown mode with level lockdownNormal on 10.182.182.193
2:11:27 PM ...Enabling Lockdown mode with level lockdownNormal on 10.182.183.107
2:11:27 PM ...Configuration Summary:
2:11:27 PM {
  "vcenter": "10.182.177.21",
  "hostname": "",
  "cluster": "cluster0",
  "vmhosts": [
    "10.182.180.5",
    "10.182.182.193",
    "10.182.183.107"
  ],
  "reportpath": "/tmp/reports",
  "ok": 99,
  "changed": 123,
  "skipped": 25,
  "failed": 5,

# A results file and Powershell transcript is provided in the report path specified.
Directory: /tmp/reports

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---            6/8/2023  2:11 PM           6578 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_ESXi_Remediation_Results_6-8-2023_14-6-38.json
-a---            6/8/2023  2:11 PM          84552 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_ESXi_Remediation_Transcript_6-8-2023_14-6-38.txt

# Navigate to the powercli folder
cd /usr/share/stigs/vsphere/8.0/v1r1-srg/vsphere/powercli

# Running the script.
./VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_ESXi_Remediation.ps1 -vcenter 10.182.177.21 -vccred $vccred -cluster "cluster0" -esxAdminGroup "MyESXiGroup" -allowedIPs "10.10.10.0/24","10.10.11.0/24" -ntpServers "time-a-g.nist.gov","time-b-g.nist.gov" -syslogServer "tcp://loginsight.vmware.com:514" -reportpath /tmp/reports

# Snippet from the output of running the script.
2:11:17 PM ...Remediating STIG ID:ESXI-80-000244 with Title: The ESXi host must enforce the exclusive running of executables from approved VIBs.
2:11:17 PM ...Setting VMkernel.Boot.execInstalledOnly was incorrectly set to False on 10.182.180.5...setting to true
VMkernel.Boot.execI… True                 VMHost
2:11:18 PM ...Setting VMkernel.Boot.execInstalledOnly was incorrectly set to False on 10.182.182.193...setting to true
VMkernel.Boot.execI… True                 VMHost
2:11:20 PM ...Setting VMkernel.Boot.execInstalledOnly was incorrectly set to False on 10.182.183.107...setting to true
VMkernel.Boot.execI… True                 VMHost
2:11:21 PM ...Remediating STIG ID:ESXI-80-000245 with Title: The ESXi host must use sufficient entropy for cryptographic operations.
2:11:22 PM ...disableHwrng set correctly to FALSE on 10.182.180.5
2:11:22 PM ...entropySources set correctly to 0 on 10.182.180.5
2:11:23 PM ...disableHwrng set correctly to FALSE on 10.182.182.193
2:11:24 PM ...entropySources set correctly to 0 on 10.182.182.193
2:11:25 PM ...disableHwrng set correctly to FALSE on 10.182.183.107
2:11:25 PM ...entropySources set correctly to 0 on 10.182.183.107
2:11:25 PM ...Remediating STIG ID:ESXI-80-000246 with Title: The ESXi host must not enable log filtering.
2:11:25 PM ...log filtering set correctly to false on 10.182.180.5
2:11:25 PM ...log filtering set correctly to false on 10.182.182.193
2:11:26 PM ...log filtering set correctly to false on 10.182.183.107
2:11:26 PM ...Remediating STIG ID:ESXI-80-000008 with Title: The ESXi host must enable lockdown mode.
2:11:26 PM ...Enabling Lockdown mode with level lockdownNormal on 10.182.180.5
2:11:26 PM ...Enabling Lockdown mode with level lockdownNormal on 10.182.182.193
2:11:27 PM ...Enabling Lockdown mode with level lockdownNormal on 10.182.183.107
2:11:27 PM ...Configuration Summary:
2:11:27 PM {
  "vcenter": "10.182.177.21",
  "hostname": "",
  "cluster": "cluster0",
  "vmhosts": [
    "10.182.180.5",
    "10.182.182.193",
    "10.182.183.107"
  ],
  "reportpath": "/tmp/reports",
  "ok": 99,
  "changed": 123,
  "skipped": 25,
  "failed": 5,

# A results file and Powershell transcript is provided in the report path specified.
Directory: /tmp/reports

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---            6/8/2023  2:11 PM           6578 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_ESXi_Remediation_Results_6-8-2023_14-6-38.json
-a---            6/8/2023  2:11 PM          84552 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_ESXi_Remediation_Transcript_6-8-2023_14-6-38.txt

Remediating virtual machines

To remediate virtual machines we have provided a PowerCLI script that will target a single VM, all VMs in a cluster, or all VMs in vCenter based on parameters provided to the script.

Note: There are some controls that cannot be remediated with PowerCLI and are not addressed by this script. See the scripts description text for more details.

Disabling Controls

For processing efficiency it is not constructed to run each control individually so the STIG ID variables are not included to enabled/disable controls such as in the ESXi/vCenter scripts. If it is desired to skip some controls they could be commented out in the $vmconfig variable in the script.

Run remediation script on target virtual machines

# Navigate to the powercli folder
cd /usr/share/stigs/vsphere/8.0/v1r1-stig/vsphere/powercli

# Running the script.
./VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_VM_Remediation.ps1 -vcenter 10.182.177.21 -vccred $vccred -cluster "cluster0" -reportpath /tmp/reports

# Snippet from the output of running the script.
2:13:50 PM ...Connecting to vCenter Server 10.182.177.21
2:13:52 PM ...Getting PowerCLI objects for all virtual machines in cluster: cluster0
2:13:53 PM ...Remediating advanced settings on vCLS-1ef92498-69e3-4c68-b4fa-ef5a25b671b7 on 10.182.177.21
2:13:53 PM ...Setting isolation.device.connectable.disable does not exist on vCLS-1ef92498-69e3-4c68-b4fa-ef5a25b671b7 and is compliant by default...
2:13:53 PM ...Setting isolation.tools.copy.disable does not exist on vCLS-1ef92498-69e3-4c68-b4fa-ef5a25b671b7 and is compliant by default...
2:13:53 PM ...Setting isolation.tools.diskShrink.disable does not exist on vCLS-1ef92498-69e3-4c68-b4fa-ef5a25b671b7 and is compliant by default...
2:13:53 PM ...Setting isolation.tools.diskWiper.disable does not exist on vCLS-1ef92498-69e3-4c68-b4fa-ef5a25b671b7 and is compliant by default...

# A results file and Powershell transcript is provided in the report path specified.
Directory: /tmp/reports

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---            6/8/2023  2:14 PM          10743 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_VM_Remediation_Transcript_6-8-2023_14-13-50.txt
-a---            6/8/2023  2:14 PM           1105 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_VM_Remediation_Transcript_6-8-2023_14-14-7.txt

# Navigate to the powercli folder
cd /usr/share/stigs/vsphere/8.0/v1r1-srg/vsphere/powercli

# Running the script.
./VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_VM_Remediation.ps1 -vcenter 10.182.177.21 -vccred $vccred -cluster "cluster0" -reportpath /tmp/reports

# Snippet from the output of running the script.
2:13:50 PM ...Connecting to vCenter Server 10.182.177.21
2:13:52 PM ...Getting PowerCLI objects for all virtual machines in cluster: cluster0
2:13:53 PM ...Remediating advanced settings on vCLS-1ef92498-69e3-4c68-b4fa-ef5a25b671b7 on 10.182.177.21
2:13:53 PM ...Setting isolation.device.connectable.disable does not exist on vCLS-1ef92498-69e3-4c68-b4fa-ef5a25b671b7 and is compliant by default...
2:13:53 PM ...Setting isolation.tools.copy.disable does not exist on vCLS-1ef92498-69e3-4c68-b4fa-ef5a25b671b7 and is compliant by default...
2:13:53 PM ...Setting isolation.tools.diskShrink.disable does not exist on vCLS-1ef92498-69e3-4c68-b4fa-ef5a25b671b7 and is compliant by default...
2:13:53 PM ...Setting isolation.tools.diskWiper.disable does not exist on vCLS-1ef92498-69e3-4c68-b4fa-ef5a25b671b7 and is compliant by default...

# A results file and Powershell transcript is provided in the report path specified.
Directory: /tmp/reports

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---            6/8/2023  2:14 PM          10743 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_VM_Remediation_Transcript_6-8-2023_14-13-50.txt
-a---            6/8/2023  2:14 PM           1105 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_VM_Remediation_Transcript_6-8-2023_14-14-7.txt

Remediating vCenter

To remediate vCenter we have provided a PowerCLI script that will target a single vCenter server.

Note: There are some controls that cannot be remediated with PowerCLI and are not addressed by this script. The output will indicate that these are manual controls.

Gather environment information

In order to run the script effectively it must be provided with the organizations environment specific information.

This script also uses the VMware.Vsphere.SsoAdmin PowerCLI Module to configure vCenter SSO controls. This module connects to vCenter separately using the Connect-SsoAdminServer command that requires using an account that has sufficient privileges in vCenter to modify SSO settings.

Review the below parameters and gather the information needed to run the script:

[CmdletBinding()]
param (
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
  [string]$vcenter,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
  [pscredential]$vccred,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="Enter the path for the output report. Example /tmp")]
  [string]$reportpath,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="If Netflow is used enter the collector IP address")]
  [string]$vcNetflowCollectorIp = "",
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="To disable Netflow on all port groups if enabled set to true")]
  [boolean]$vcNetflowDisableonallPortGroups = $false
)

[CmdletBinding()]
param (
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
  [string]$vcenter,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$true)]
  [pscredential]$vccred,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="Enter the path for the output report. Example /tmp")]
  [string]$reportpath,
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="If Netflow is used enter the collector IP address")]
  [string]$vcNetflowCollectorIp = "",
  [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
  HelpMessage="To disable Netflow on all port groups if enabled set to true")]
  [boolean]$vcNetflowDisableonallPortGroups = $false
)

Disabling Controls

The script includes variables to enable or disable controls by STIG ID. All controls are all enabled by default and can be turned off by changing these variables to $false for a specific control.

A snippet of these variables is shown below.

##### Enable or Disable specific STIG Remediations #####
$controlsenabled = [ordered]@{
  VCSA8000009 = $true  #TLS 1.2
  VCSA8000023 = $true  #SSO Login Attempts
  VCSA8000024 = $true  #SSO Banner - Manual
  VCSA8000034 = $true  #config.log.level

Run remediation script on target vCenter server

This example will remediate all controls on a target vCenter server.

# Navigate to the powercli folder
cd /usr/share/stigs/vsphere/8.0/v1r1-stig/vsphere/powercli

# Running the script.
./VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_vCenter_Remediation.ps1 -vcenter 10.182.177.21 -vccred $vccred -vcNetflowDisableonallPortGroups $true -reportpath /tmp/reports

# Snippet from the output of running the script.
2:27:42 PM ...Connecting to vCenter Server 10.182.177.21
2:27:44 PM ...Connecting to vCenter SSO Server 10.182.177.21
2:27:45 PM ...Verifying vCenter 10.182.177.21 is version 8.0.x
2:27:45 PM ...vCenter 10.182.177.21 is version 8.0.1 continuing...
2:27:45 PM ...Getting PowerCLI objects for all virtual distributed switches in vCenter: 10.182.177.21
2:27:45 PM ...Getting PowerCLI objects for all virtual distributed port groups in vCenter: 10.182.177.21
2:27:46 PM ...Remediating STIG ID: VCSA-80-000009 with Title: The vCenter Server must use TLS 1.2, at a minimum, to protect the confidentiality of sensitive data during electronic dissemination using remote access.
2:27:46 PM ...!!This control must be remediated manually!!
2:27:46 PM ...Remediating STIG ID: VCSA-80-000023 with Title: The vCenter Server must enforce the limit of three consecutive invalid logon attempts by a user.
2:27:47 PM ...SSO login attempts set incorrectly on 10.182.177.21
2:27:47 PM ...Remediating STIG ID: VCSA-80-000024 with Title: The vCenter Server must display the Standard Mandatory DoD Notice and Consent Banner before logon.
2:27:47 PM ...!!This control must be remediated manually!!
2:27:47 PM ...Remediating STIG ID: VCSA-80-000034 with Title: The vCenter Server must produce audit records containing information to establish what type of events occurred.
2:27:47 PM ...Setting config.log.level is already configured correctly to info on 10.182.177.21

# A results file and Powershell transcript is provided in the report path specified.
Directory: /tmp/reports

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---            6/8/2023  2:28 PM           2873 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_vCenter_Remediation_Results_6-8-2023_14-27-42.json
-a---            6/8/2023  2:28 PM          25530 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_vCenter_Remediation_Transcript_6-8-2023_14-27-42.txt

# Navigate to the powercli folder
cd /usr/share/stigs/vsphere/8.0/v1r1-srg/vsphere/powercli

# Running the script.
./VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_vCenter_Remediation.ps1 -vcenter 10.182.177.21 -vccred $vccred -vcNetflowDisableonallPortGroups $true -reportpath /tmp/reports

# Snippet from the output of running the script.
2:27:42 PM ...Connecting to vCenter Server 10.182.177.21
2:27:44 PM ...Connecting to vCenter SSO Server 10.182.177.21
2:27:45 PM ...Verifying vCenter 10.182.177.21 is version 8.0.x
2:27:45 PM ...vCenter 10.182.177.21 is version 8.0.1 continuing...
2:27:45 PM ...Getting PowerCLI objects for all virtual distributed switches in vCenter: 10.182.177.21
2:27:45 PM ...Getting PowerCLI objects for all virtual distributed port groups in vCenter: 10.182.177.21
2:27:46 PM ...Remediating STIG ID: VCSA-80-000009 with Title: The vCenter Server must use TLS 1.2, at a minimum, to protect the confidentiality of sensitive data during electronic dissemination using remote access.
2:27:46 PM ...!!This control must be remediated manually!!
2:27:46 PM ...Remediating STIG ID: VCSA-80-000023 with Title: The vCenter Server must enforce the limit of three consecutive invalid logon attempts by a user.
2:27:47 PM ...SSO login attempts set incorrectly on 10.182.177.21
2:27:47 PM ...Remediating STIG ID: VCSA-80-000024 with Title: The vCenter Server must display the Standard Mandatory DoD Notice and Consent Banner before logon.
2:27:47 PM ...!!This control must be remediated manually!!
2:27:47 PM ...Remediating STIG ID: VCSA-80-000034 with Title: The vCenter Server must produce audit records containing information to establish what type of events occurred.
2:27:47 PM ...Setting config.log.level is already configured correctly to info on 10.182.177.21

# A results file and Powershell transcript is provided in the report path specified.
Directory: /tmp/reports

Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a---            6/8/2023  2:28 PM           2873 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_vCenter_Remediation_Results_6-8-2023_14-27-42.json
-a---            6/8/2023  2:28 PM          25530 VMware_vSphere_8.0_STIG_vCenter_Remediation_Transcript_6-8-2023_14-27-42.txt

Remediating vCenter (Appliance Controls)

To remediate vCenter we have provided an Ansible playbook that will target a single vCenter server appliance over SSH and configure any non-compliant controls.

Update the default shell for root

The default shell for root must be changed to /bin/bash before running. The appliance shell causes issues with some controls running.

# SSH to vCenter
Connected to service

    * List APIs: "help api list"
    * List Plugins: "help pi list"
    * Launch BASH: "shell"

Command> shell.set --enabled true
Command> shell
Shell access is granted to root
root@sc1-10-182-131-166 [ ~ ]# chsh -s /bin/bash root

Running the playbook

To run all of the VCSA controls, follow the example below:

# Navigate to the Ansible playbook folder
cd /usr/share/stigs/vsphere/8.0/v1r1-stig/vcsa/ansible/vmware-vcsa-8.0-stig-ansible-hardening

# The -k parameter will prompt for password and we are using extra-vars to specify a variable file for the playbook to use.
ansible-playbook -i 10.182.177.21, -u root playbook.yml -k -v --extra-vars @vars-vcenter-example.yml

# Output example
SSH password:

PLAY [all] ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [10.182.177.21]

TASK [vmware-photon-3.0-stig-ansible-hardening : Include Photon] **************************************************************************************************************************************************************
included: /home/rlakey/.ansible/roles/vmware-photon-3.0-stig-ansible-hardening/tasks/photon.yml for 10.182.177.21

TASK [vmware-photon-3.0-stig-ansible-hardening : Create time stamp] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [10.182.177.21] => {"ansible_facts": {"backup_timestamp": "2023-05-25-12-25-58"}, "changed": false}

TASK [vmware-photon-3.0-stig-ansible-hardening : Backup files...if restoring be sure to restore permissions that original file had!!] *****************************************************************************************
ok: [10.182.177.21] => (item=/etc/rsyslog.conf) => {"ansible_loop_var": "item", "changed": false, "checksum": "7aa11dc58f144160e7e3dc2d40cb2f03a39a989c", "dest": "/tmp/ansible-backups-2023-05-25-12-25-58/rsyslog.conf", "gid": 0, "group": "root", "item": "/etc/rsyslog.conf", "md5sum": "d31d58ff2bbc5cff6b7f343c2580300c", "mode": "0644", "owner": "root", "size": 4000, "src": "/etc/rsyslog.conf", "state": "file", "uid": 0}
ok: [10.182.177.21] => (item=/etc/issue) => {"ansible_loop_var": "item", "changed": false, "checksum": "930cb25fc842aca6047cb9fc1bfbd6ea191e686f", "dest": "/tmp/ansible-backups-2023-05-25-12-25-58/issue", "gid": 0, "group": "root", "item": "/etc/issue", "md5sum": "f498b74a84aaa39e292d9b815899144d", "mode": "0644", "owner": "root", "size": 104, "src": "/etc/issue", "state": "file", "uid": 0}
ok: [10.182.177.21] => (item=/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.STIG.rules) => {"ansible_loop_var": "item", "changed": false, "checksum": "38f324fe67c6943e07ef1910b41dedeb0b256ca4", "dest": "/tmp/ansible-backups-2023-05-25-12-25-58/audit.STIG.rules", "gid": 0, "group": "root", "item": "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.STIG.rules", "md5sum": "396d715044fc7a8d92a0332d3edb4112", "mode": "0640", "owner": "root", "size": 5080, "src": "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.STIG.rules", "state": "file", "uid": 0}

TASK [vmware-photon-3.0-stig-ansible-hardening : PHTN-30-000001 - Update/Create audit.STIG.rules file] ************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [10.182.177.21] => {"changed": true, "checksum": "aaafa4e8c28743ce3cc22c818f28f4cb9a3f53b2", "dest": "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.STIG.rules", "gid": 0, "group": "root", "md5sum": "91a31e7bbf9e3f0d7f390feb4360581b", "mode": "0640", "owner": "root", "size": 5180, "src": "/root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1685039234.3606877-890-106251101523760/source", "state": "file", "uid": 0}

# Navigate to the Ansible playbook folder
cd /usr/share/stigs/vsphere/8.0/v1r1-srg/vcsa/ansible/vmware-vcsa-8.0-stig-ansible-hardening

# The -k parameter will prompt for password and we are using extra-vars to specify a variable file for the playbook to use.
ansible-playbook -i 10.182.177.21, -u root playbook.yml -k -v --extra-vars @vars-vcenter-example.yml

# Output example
SSH password:

PLAY [all] ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [10.182.177.21]

TASK [vmware-photon-3.0-stig-ansible-hardening : Include Photon] **************************************************************************************************************************************************************
included: /home/rlakey/.ansible/roles/vmware-photon-3.0-stig-ansible-hardening/tasks/photon.yml for 10.182.177.21

TASK [vmware-photon-3.0-stig-ansible-hardening : Create time stamp] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [10.182.177.21] => {"ansible_facts": {"backup_timestamp": "2023-05-25-12-25-58"}, "changed": false}

TASK [vmware-photon-3.0-stig-ansible-hardening : Backup files...if restoring be sure to restore permissions that original file had!!] *****************************************************************************************
ok: [10.182.177.21] => (item=/etc/rsyslog.conf) => {"ansible_loop_var": "item", "changed": false, "checksum": "7aa11dc58f144160e7e3dc2d40cb2f03a39a989c", "dest": "/tmp/ansible-backups-2023-05-25-12-25-58/rsyslog.conf", "gid": 0, "group": "root", "item": "/etc/rsyslog.conf", "md5sum": "d31d58ff2bbc5cff6b7f343c2580300c", "mode": "0644", "owner": "root", "size": 4000, "src": "/etc/rsyslog.conf", "state": "file", "uid": 0}
ok: [10.182.177.21] => (item=/etc/issue) => {"ansible_loop_var": "item", "changed": false, "checksum": "930cb25fc842aca6047cb9fc1bfbd6ea191e686f", "dest": "/tmp/ansible-backups-2023-05-25-12-25-58/issue", "gid": 0, "group": "root", "item": "/etc/issue", "md5sum": "f498b74a84aaa39e292d9b815899144d", "mode": "0644", "owner": "root", "size": 104, "src": "/etc/issue", "state": "file", "uid": 0}
ok: [10.182.177.21] => (item=/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.STIG.rules) => {"ansible_loop_var": "item", "changed": false, "checksum": "38f324fe67c6943e07ef1910b41dedeb0b256ca4", "dest": "/tmp/ansible-backups-2023-05-25-12-25-58/audit.STIG.rules", "gid": 0, "group": "root", "item": "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.STIG.rules", "md5sum": "396d715044fc7a8d92a0332d3edb4112", "mode": "0640", "owner": "root", "size": 5080, "src": "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.STIG.rules", "state": "file", "uid": 0}

TASK [vmware-photon-3.0-stig-ansible-hardening : PHTN-30-000001 - Update/Create audit.STIG.rules file] ************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [10.182.177.21] => {"changed": true, "checksum": "aaafa4e8c28743ce3cc22c818f28f4cb9a3f53b2", "dest": "/etc/audit/rules.d/audit.STIG.rules", "gid": 0, "group": "root", "md5sum": "91a31e7bbf9e3f0d7f390feb4360581b", "mode": "0640", "owner": "root", "size": 5180, "src": "/root/.ansible/tmp/ansible-tmp-1685039234.3606877-890-106251101523760/source", "state": "file", "uid": 0}

A more conservative and preferred approach is to target any non-compliant controls or run each component separately allowed you to perform any functional testing in between.

# Providing the tag "eam" will instruct the playbook to only run the eam role. This tag can be seen in each roles task/main.yml file.
ansible-playbook -i 10.182.177.21, -u root playbook.yml -k -v --extra-vars @vars-vcenter-example.yml --tags eam

# Providing the tag "VCEM-70-000001" will instruct the playbook to only run task tagged with the STIG ID of VCEM-80-000001.
ansible-playbook -i 10.182.177.21, -u root playbook.yml -k -v --extra-vars @vars-vcenter-example.yml --tags VCEM-80-000001

# Providing the tag "eam" will instruct the playbook to only run the eam role. This tag can be seen in each roles task/main.yml file.
ansible-playbook -i 10.182.177.21, -u root playbook.yml -k -v --extra-vars @vars-vcenter-example.yml --tags eam

# Providing the tag "VCEM-70-000001" will instruct the playbook to only run task tagged with the STIG ID of VCEM-80-000001.
ansible-playbook -i 10.182.177.21, -u root playbook.yml -k -v --extra-vars @vars-vcenter-example.yml --tags VCEM-80-000001

Last modified April 2, 2024: adding ansible collection install steps (6aa2aa50)