Check: VMCH-67-000018
VMware vSphere 6.7 Virtual Machine STIG:
VMCH-67-000018
(in versions v1 r3 through v1 r1)
Title
Shared salt values must be disabled on the virtual machine. (Cat III impact)
Discussion
When salting is enabled (Mem.ShareForceSalting=1 or 2) in order to share a page between two virtual machines both salt and the content of the page must be same. A salt value is a configurable advanced option for each virtual machine. The salt values can be manually specified in the virtual machine's advanced settings with the new option sched.mem.pshare.salt. If this option is not present in the virtual machine's advanced settings, then the value of the vc.uuid option is taken as the default value. Since the vc.uuid is unique to each virtual machine, by default TPS happens only among the pages belonging to a particular virtual machine (Intra-VM).
Check Content
From the vSphere Web Client right-click the Virtual Machine and go to Edit Settings >> VM Options >> Advanced >> Configuration Parameters >> Edit Configuration. Verify the sched.mem.pshare.salt setting does not exist. or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host or vCenter server, run the following command: Get-VM "VM Name" | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name sched.mem.pshare.salt If the virtual machine advanced setting sched.mem.pshare.salt exists, this is a finding.
Fix Text
From the vSphere Web Client right-click the Virtual Machine and go to Edit Settings >> VM Options >> Advanced >> Configuration Parameters >> Edit Configuration. Delete the sched.mem.pshare.salt setting. Note: The VM must be powered off to configure the advanced settings through the vSphere Web Client so it is recommended to configure these settings with PowerCLI as it can be done while the VM is powered on. Settings do not take effect via either method until the virtual machine is cold started, not rebooted. or From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host or vCenter server, run the following command: Get-VM "VM Name" | Get-AdvancedSetting -Name sched.mem.pshare.salt | Remove-AdvancedSetting
Additional Identifiers
Rule ID: SV-239349r679596_rule
Vulnerability ID: V-239349
Group Title: SRG-OS-000480-VMM-002000
Expert Comments
CCIs
Number | Definition |
---|---|
CCI-000366 |
The organization implements the security configuration settings. |
Controls
Number | Title |
---|---|
CM-6 |
Configuration Settings |