VCWN-65-000002 - The vCenter Server for Windows must not automatically refresh client sessions.

Information

Terminating an idle session within a short time period reduces the window of opportunity for unauthorized personnel to take control of a management session enabled on the console or console port that has been left unattended. In addition, quickly terminating an idle session will also free up resources committed by the managed network element. Automatic client session refreshes keep unused sessions online, blocking session timeouts.

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

Solution

Change the refresh rate value by editing the 'webclient.properties' file.

On the system where vCenter is installed locate the 'webclient.properties' file.

Appliance:
/etc/vmware/vsphere-client/

Windows:
C:\ProgramData\VMware\vCenterServer\cfg\vsphere-client

Edit the file to include the line 'refresh.rate = -1' where '-1' indicates sessions are not automatically refreshed. Uncomment the line if necessary.

After editing the file the vSphere Web Client service must be restarted.

See Also

https://dl.dod.cyber.mil/wp-content/uploads/stigs/zip/U_VMW_vSphere_6-5_Y23M07_STIG.zip

Item Details

Category: SYSTEM AND COMMUNICATIONS PROTECTION

References: 800-53|SC-10, CAT|II, CCI|CCI-001133, Rule-ID|SV-216826r879622_rule, STIG-ID|VCWN-65-000002, STIG-Legacy|SV-104547, STIG-Legacy|V-94717, Vuln-ID|V-216826

Plugin: VMware

Control ID: 38b3491a6544e7b9a417f900bbc2499224c76eb563bafa0cdf7981bd7fabeb25