ESXI-06-000038 - The system must use the vSphere Authentication Proxy to protect passwords when adding ESXi hosts to Active Directory.

Information

If you configure your host to join an Active Directory domain using Host Profiles the Active Directory credentials are saved in the host profile and are transmitted over the network. To avoid having to save Active Directory credentials in the Host Profile and to avoid transmitting Active Directory credentials over the network use the vSphere Authentication Proxy.

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

Solution

When using host profiles do the following:

From the vSphere Client go to Home >> Host Profiles.

Select a Host Profile to edit.

View the settings under Authentication Configuration >> Active Directory Configuration >> JoinDomain Method.

Set the method used to join hosts to a domain to 'Use vSphere Authentication Proxy to add the host to domain' and provide the IP address of the vSphere Authentication Proxy server.

To join a host to Active Directory manually without host profiles do the following:

From the vSphere Client select the ESXi Host and go to Configuration >> Authentication Services.

Click 'Properties'.

Change the 'Directory Service Type' to 'Active Directory'.

Enter the domain to join.

Check 'Use vSphere Authentication Proxy'.

Enter the proxy server address.

Click 'Join Domain'.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_VMware_vSphere_6-0_ESXi_V1R5_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: IDENTIFICATION AND AUTHENTICATION

References: 800-53|IA-2, CAT|II, CCI|CCI-000764, Group-ID|V-63245, Rule-ID|SV-77735r2_rule, STIG-ID|ESXI-06-000038, Vuln-ID|V-63245

Plugin: VMware

Control ID: 40de8197b19192c097b23124dbd0caa5b9fd0de144fc480be24e678fdc2c6122