8.7.3 Ensure host information is not sent to guests

Information

Configure VMware Tools to disable host information from being sent to guests unless a particular VM requires this information for performance monitoring purposes.

Rationale:

By enabling a VM to get detailed information about the physical host, an adversary could potentially use this information to inform further attacks on the host.

Solution

To prevent host information from being sent to guests, run the following PowerCLI command:

# Add the setting to all VMs
Get-VM | New-AdvancedSetting -Name 'tools.guestlib.enableHostInfo' -value $false

Default Value:

FALSE

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/8020

Item Details

Category: CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT, SYSTEM AND SERVICES ACQUISITION

References: 800-53|CM-1, 800-53|CM-2, 800-53|CM-6, 800-53|CM-7, 800-53|CM-7(1), 800-53|CM-9, 800-53|SA-3, 800-53|SA-8, 800-53|SA-10, CSCv7|13.3

Plugin: VMware

Control ID: 6cccab707ead23e60828f041a21f2b481284453ee392369180733feac298918b