ESXi System Information Discovery Via ESXCLI

 1title: ESXi System Information Discovery Via ESXCLI
 2id: e80273e1-9faf-40bc-bd85-dbaff104c4e9
 3status: experimental
 4description: Detects execution of the "esxcli" command with the "system" flag in order to retrieve information about the different component of the system. Such as accounts, modules, NTP, etc.
 5references:
 6    - https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/hypervisor-jackpotting-ecrime-actors-increase-targeting-of-esxi-servers/
 7    - https://developer.vmware.com/docs/11743/esxi-7-0-esxcli-command-reference/namespace/esxcli_system.html
 8author: Cedric Maurugeon
 9date: 2023/09/04
10tags:
11    - attack.discovery
12    - attack.t1033
13    - attack.t1007
14logsource:
15    category: process_creation
16    product: linux
17detection:
18    selection_img:
19        Image|endswith: '/esxcli'
20        CommandLine|contains: 'system'
21    selection_cli:
22        CommandLine|contains:
23            - ' get'
24            - ' list'
25    condition: all of selection_*
26falsepositives:
27    - Legitimate administration activities
28level: medium

References

• Hypervisor Jackpotting, Part 2: eCrime Actors Increase Targeting of ESXi Servers with Ransomware

  

  CrowdStrike outlines the new campaigns that have been observed targeting ESXi systems and specific defensive controls that can protect these critical assets.

  
  Read More

• ESXCLI Reference - ESXi 7.0 ESXCLI Command Reference

  ESXCLI Reference The ESXCLI command set allows you to run common system administration commands against vSphere systems from an administration server of your choice. The actual list of commands dep...

  
  Read More

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