VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide

The VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide (V2 R5) has 76 STIG checks. New to STIG checklists? Read What is a STIG checklist?, CKL vs CKLB, and STIG vs SCAP benchmark.

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Severity

Version

V2 · R5

CurrentPublished Wed Sep 30 2026

The ESXi host must disable virtual hardware management network interfaces.

VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi Security Technical Implementation Guide

Assessment Title

Rule Text

The ESXi host must disable virtual hardware management network interfaces.

Description

Discussion Text

Hardware management controllers often present virtual or USB NICs to the ESXi host. These can be used as backdoors and should be deactivated both in the hardware configuration and in ESXi.

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

Objective

V-265977

Rule

SV-265977r1003587_rule

Severity

medium

Rule Version

ESXI-80-000250

Documentable

false

IA Controls

NIST SP 800-53

Rev 5

Assessment Procedure

Check Text

From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.

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

Select the "Net.BMCNetworkEnable" value and verify it is set to "0".

or

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

Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Net.BMCNetworkEnable

If the "Net.BMCNetworkEnable" setting is not set to "0", this is a finding.

Implementation Procedure

Fix Text

From the vSphere Client, go to Hosts and Clusters.

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

Click "Edit". Select the "Net.BMCNetworkEnable" value and configure it to "0".

or

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

Get-VMHost | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name Net.BMCNetworkEnable | Set-AdvancedSetting -Value 0

STIG check 76 of 76 in the VMware vSphere 8.0 ESXi STIG checklist

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