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ESXi SSH Access Enabled

Detects ESXi SSH being turned on. SSH is often left disabled so the host is managed through the local console, the Host Client, or vCenter. Enabling it opens a remote shell that can copy files onto the host and run…

Description

Detects ESXi SSH being turned on. SSH is often left disabled so the host is managed through the local console, the Host Client, or vCenter. Enabling it opens a remote shell that can copy files onto the host and run commands against the datastore.

Detection logic

Its licence does not clear it for publishing here

Sunturai publishes a detection's own text where the licence it arrived under has been reviewed and permits it, and Elastic License 2.0 has not. The query as its source wrote it, its canonical form and the hash that pins this revision are in the workspace record.

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Detection requirements

Platform
ESXiIaaSLinuxmacOSWindows

The rule states no platform. This is derived from the ATT&CK technique it maps to.

Log source category
event_index

Known benign triggers

  • Administrators enable SSH for a documented troubleshooting window. ESXi often disables the service again on reboot, so a later enable by a known operator can be expected.

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