VMware vSphere 7.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide

The VMware vSphere 7.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide (V1 R5) has 75 STIG checks. New to STIG checklists? Read What is a STIG checklist?, CKL vs CKLB, and STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

Find STIG checks

75STIG checks

Search filters this STIG's checks locally. Separate terms must all match (use quotes for an exact phrase). A search you ran on the Search page carries over here.

Severity

Version

V1 · R5

CurrentPublished Wed Sep 30 2026

The ESXi host Secure Shell (SSH) daemon must disable port forwarding.

VMware vSphere 7.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide

Assessment Title

Rule Text

The ESXi host Secure Shell (SSH) daemon must disable port forwarding.

Description

Discussion Text

While enabling Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) tunnels is a valuable function of sshd, this feature is not appropriate for use on the ESXi hypervisor.

New to STIG checklists? Read What is a STIG checklist? and CKL vs CKLB.

Objective

V-256434

Rule

SV-256434r1272795_rule

Severity

medium

Rule Version

ESXI-70-000082

Documentable

false

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Rev 5

Assessment Procedure

Check Text

From an ESXi shell, run the following command:

# /usr/lib/vmware/openssh/bin/sshd -T|grep allowtcpforwarding

Expected result:

allowtcpforwarding no

If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding.

Implementation Procedure

Fix Text

From an ESXi shell, add or correct the following line in "/etc/ssh/sshd_config": 

AllowTcpForwarding no

STIG check 60 of 75 in the VMware vSphere 7.0 ESXi STIG checklist

← Previous · V-256433The ESXi host must not suppress warnings about unmitigated hyperthreading vulnerabilities.Next · V-256435 →The ESXi host OpenSLP service must be disabled.