VMware provides virtualization and cloud infrastructure software; flaws or misconfigurations can expose hosts, workloads, credentials, and management systems.
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Background for this topic.
VMware is a virtualization platform that runs multiple virtual machines on shared physical servers. Its ESXi hypervisor provides the underlying isolation, while vCenter Server centrally manages hosts, virtual machines, networks, and storage. Because these components operate beneath or across many workloads, compromise of a host or management account can expose multiple systems; virtual-machine isolation reduces risk but is not an absolute security boundary.
Security teams should treat ESXi hosts and management services as privileged infrastructure: restrict management interfaces, separate administrative networks, enforce strong authentication and role-based access, monitor administrative actions, and promptly assess security advisories and patches. Vulnerabilities in the hypervisor, management plane, or virtual networking and storage layers can enable unauthorized access, guest-to-host escape, or service disruption, depending on the flaw and configuration. Incident investigations should also account for host and vCenter logs, snapshots, templates, and backups, which can contain sensitive data or retained credentials.
Wide use and lack of support for malware detection technologies has made VMware's virtualization technology a prime target for cyberattackers.
A new ransomware-as-service (RaaS) operation called MichaelKors has become the latest file-encrypting malware to target Linux and VMware ESXi systems as of April 2023