1.8 (L2) Host integrated hardware management controller must secure authentication

Information

Connections to centralized authentication sources, like Active Directory, should be disabled or carefully considered as attack vectors and dependency loops (for authentication, authorization, DNS, DHCP, and time). Consider managing local accounts on these devices through the APIs and CLI interfaces provided. If Active Directory must be used for authentication do authorization locally so that an attacker with access to Active Directory cannot promote themselves through group membership.

To prevent unauthorized access and potential malicious control of server hardware functions, it's essential to ensure that the integrated hardware management controller utilizes secure authentication mechanisms.

NOTE: Nessus has not performed this check. Please review the benchmark to ensure target compliance.

Solution

Impact:

Not connecting hardware management controllers to centralized authentication & authorization sources entails additional management. Most hardware management controllers have CLI toolkits or APIs to automate management of user accounts and/or authorization levels.

See Also

https://workbench.cisecurity.org/benchmarks/15784

Item Details

Category: ACCESS CONTROL

References: 800-53|AC-6(2), 800-53|AC-6(5), CSCv7|4.3

Plugin: VMware

Control ID: 856db033de144fb4e1e684dd0a139c5774fe28e0483c2496530edead5395461f