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VMware VCenter

Overview

VMWare VCenter is a centralized management software. It provides a single point of control for managing virtual machines and ESXi hosts from a centralized interface.

The following Sekoia.io built-in rules match the intake VMware vCenter. This documentation is updated automatically and is based solely on the fields used by the intake which are checked against our rules. This means that some rules will be listed but might not be relevant with the intake.

SEKOIA.IO x VMware vCenter on ATT&CK Navigator

Account Added To A Security Enabled Group

Detection in order to investigate who has added a specific Domain User in Domain Admins or Group Policy Creator Owners (Security event 4728)

  • Effort: master
Account Removed From A Security Enabled Group

Detection in order to investigate who has removed a specific Domain User in Domain Admins or Group Policy Creator Owners (Security event 4729)

  • Effort: master
Active Directory Data Export Using Csvde

Detects the use of Csvde, a command-line tool from Windows Server that can be used to export Active Directory data to CSV files. This export doesn't include password hashes, but can be used as a discovery tool to enumerate users, machines and group memberships.

  • Effort: elementary
AdFind Usage

Detects the usage of the AdFind tool. AdFind.exe is a free tool that extracts information from Active Directory. Wizard Spider (Bazar, TrickBot, Ryuk), FIN6 and MAZE operators have used AdFind.exe to collect information about Active Directory organizational units and trust objects

  • Effort: elementary
Adexplorer Usage

Detects the usage of Adexplorer, a legitimate tool from the Sysinternals suite that could be abused by attackers as it can saves snapshots of the Active Directory Database.

  • Effort: advanced
Certificate Authority Modification

Installation of new certificate(s) in the Certificate Authority can be used to trick user when spoofing website or to add trusted destinations.

  • Effort: master
Computer Account Deleted

Detects computer account deletion.

  • Effort: master
Domain Trust Created Or Removed

A trust was created or removed to a domain. An attacker could perform that in order to do lateral movement easily between domains or shutdown the ability of two domains to communicate.

  • Effort: advanced
Exfiltration And Tunneling Tools Execution

Execution of well known tools for data exfiltration and tunneling

  • Effort: advanced
Failed Logon Source From Public IP Addresses

A login from a public IP can indicate a misconfigured firewall or network boundary. The sekoia.tags are used to filter internal Ipv4 addresses (10.0.0.0/8 172.16.0.0/12 127.0.0.0/8 169.254.0.0/16 192.168.0.0/16).

  • Effort: master
Kernel Module Alteration

Kernel module installation can be used to configure system settings to automatically execute a program during system boot or logon to maintain persistence or gain higher-level privileges on compromised systems.

  • Effort: advanced
Network Scanning and Discovery

Tools and command lines used for network discovery from current system

  • Effort: advanced
Network Sniffing

List of common tools used for network packages sniffing

  • Effort: advanced
Network Sniffing Windows

Network sniffing refers to using the network interface on a system to monitor or capture information sent over a wired or wireless connection. An adversary may place a network interface into promiscuous mode to passively access data in transit over the network, or use span ports to capture a larger amount of data.

  • Effort: intermediate
Nimbo-C2 User Agent

Nimbo-C2 Uses an unusual User-Agent format in its implants.

  • Effort: intermediate
Password Change On Directory Service Restore Mode (DSRM) Account

The Directory Service Restore Mode (DSRM) account is a local administrator account on Domain Controllers. Attackers may change the password to gain persistence.

  • Effort: intermediate
PasswordDump SecurityXploded Tool

Detects the execution of the PasswordDump SecurityXploded Tool

  • Effort: elementary
Possible Replay Attack

This event can be a sign of Kerberos replay attack or, among other things, network device configuration or routing problems.

  • Effort: intermediate
Potential Azure AD Phishing Page (Adversary-in-the-Middle)

Detects an HTTP request to an URL typical of the Azure AD authentication flow, but towards a domain that is not one the legitimate Microsoft domains used for Azure AD authentication.

  • Effort: intermediate
Potential Bazar Loader User-Agents

Detects potential Bazar loader communications through the user-agent

  • Effort: elementary
Potential Lemon Duck User-Agent

Detects LemonDuck user agent. The format used two sets of alphabetical characters separated by dashes, for example "User-Agent: Lemon-Duck-[A-Z]-[A-Z]".

  • Effort: elementary
PsExec Process

Detects PsExec execution, command line which contains pstools or installation of the PsExec service. PsExec is a SysInternals which can be used to execute a program on another computer. The tool is as much used by attackers as by administrators.

  • Effort: advanced
RDP Session Discovery

Detects use of RDP session discovery via qwinsta or quser. Used by some threat actors to know if someone is working via RDP on a server.

  • Effort: advanced
Remote Monitoring and Management Software - AnyDesk

Detect artifacts related to the installation or execution of the Remote Monitoring and Management tool AnyDesk.

  • Effort: master
Remote Monitoring and Management Software - Atera

Detect artifacts related to the installation or execution of the Remote Monitoring and Management tool Atera.

  • Effort: master
SEKOIA.IO Intelligence Feed

Detect threats based on indicators of compromise (IOCs) collected by SEKOIA's Threat and Detection Research team.

  • Effort: elementary
Suspicious Double Extension

Detects suspicious use of an .exe extension after a non-executable file extension like .pdf.exe, a set of spaces or underlines to cloak the executable file in spearphishing campaigns

  • Effort: advanced
System Info Discovery

System info discovery, attempt to detects basic command use to fingerprint a host.

  • Effort: master
User Account Created

Detects user creation on windows servers, which shouldn't happen in an Active Directory environment. Apply this on your windows server logs and not on your DC logs. One default account defaultuser0 is excluded as only used during Windows set-up. This detection use Security Event ID 4720.

  • Effort: master
User Account Deleted

Detects local user deletion

  • Effort: master

Event Categories

The following table lists the data source offered by this integration.

Data Source Description
Application logs Application activities from the hypervisor are collected
Network device logs Network activities from the hypervisor are collected
Authentication logs Audit log from the hypervisor are collected
Process use of network Network activities from the hypervisor are collected
Services Hypervisor services activities are collected

Event Samples

Find below few samples of events and how they are normalized by Sekoia.io.

{
    "message": "Event [11111111] [1-1] [2023-02-09T19:48:15.335088Z] [vim.event.HostConnectedEvent] [info] [] [hostname] [11111111] [Connected to test.example.org in hostname]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "authentication"
        ],
        "code": "vim.event.HostConnectedEvent",
        "type": [
            "start"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-02-09T19:48:15.335088Z",
    "host": {
        "name": "hostname"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "source": {
        "address": "test.example.org"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "event_id": "11111111"
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-02-14T13:54:34.390Z warning vpxd[07879] [Originator@6876 sub=Vmomi opID=60f13d6c] VMOMI activation LRO failed; <<2f06ebe1-8af5-4b00-85a2-afe4bf740b0d, <TCP '127.0.0.1 : 8085'>, <TCP '127.0.0.1 : 48588'>>, SessionManager, vim.SessionManager.login>, N3Vim5Fault12InvalidLogin9ExceptionE(Fault cause: vim.fault.InvalidLogin\\n--> )\\n--> [context]YmU2ODg4MzhjYTg2ODZlNWM5MDY4OWJmMmFiNTg1Y2VmMTEzN2M5OTliNDhjNzBiOTJmNjdhNWMzNGRjMTU2OTdiNWQxMWM5ODJlZDZkNzFiZTFlMWU3ZjdiNGUwNzMzODg0YWE5N2MzZjdhMzM5YThlZDAzNTc3Y2Y3NGJlMDkgIC0K[/context]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "code": "vim.fault.InvalidLogin",
        "reason": "VMOMI activation LRO failed",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-02-14T13:54:34.390000Z",
    "log": {
        "level": "warning"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "process": {
        "name": "vpxd",
        "pid": 7879
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-02-14T13:54:34.394Z info vpxd[07879] [Originator@6876 sub=Default opID=60f13d6c] [VpxLRO] -- ERROR lro-1926720284 -- SessionManager -- vim.SessionManager.login: vim.fault.InvalidLogin:\\\\n--> Result:\\\\n--> (vim.fault.InvalidLogin) {\\\\n-->    faultCause = (vmodl.MethodFault) null, \\\\n-->    faultMessage = <unset>\\\\n-->    msg = \\\"\\\"\\\\n--> }\\\\n--> Args:\\\\n--> \\\\n--> Arg userName:\\\\n--> \\\"username\\\"\\\\n--> Arg password:\\\\n--> (not shown)\\\\n--> \\\\n--> Arg locale:\\\\n--> \\\"en_US\\\"",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "code": "vim.fault.InvalidLogin",
        "reason": "[VpxLRO] -- ERROR lro-1926720284 -- SessionManager -- vim.SessionManager.login",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-02-14T13:54:34.394000Z",
    "client": {
        "geo": {
            "country_iso_code": "en_US"
        }
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "process": {
        "name": "vpxd",
        "pid": 7879
    },
    "related": {
        "user": [
            "username"
        ]
    },
    "user": {
        "name": "username"
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-05-11T10:22:31.126Z info envoy[111111111111111] [Originator@6876 sub=Default] 2023-05-11T10:22:31.070Z POST /sdk HTTP/1.1 200 via_upstream - 1670 11032 1 0 0 1.2.3.4:54080 5.6.7.8:443 127.0.0.1:49192 127.0.0.1:8085",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:31.126000Z",
    "destination": {
        "address": "5.6.7.8",
        "ip": "5.6.7.8",
        "port": 443
    },
    "host": {
        "ip": "127.0.0.1"
    },
    "http": {
        "request": {
            "method": "POST"
        },
        "response": {
            "status_code": 200
        },
        "version": "1.1"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "process": {
        "name": "envoy",
        "pid": 111111111111111
    },
    "related": {
        "ip": [
            "1.2.3.4",
            "127.0.0.1",
            "5.6.7.8"
        ]
    },
    "source": {
        "address": "1.2.3.4",
        "ip": "1.2.3.4",
        "port": 54080
    },
    "url": {
        "path": "/sdk"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "datetime": "2023-05-11T10:22:31.070Z",
        "host": {
            "ip2": "127.0.0.1"
        },
        "network": {
            "port": "49192",
            "port2": "8085"
        },
        "upstream_status": "via_upstream"
    }
}

{
    "message": "[11/May/2023:10:22:24 +0000] tomcat-http--47 [Request] 1.2.3.4:48866 to local 1080 - HTTP/1.1 POST /lookupservice/sdk [Response] 200 - 758 bytes [Perf] process 0ms / commit 0ms / conn [+]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:24Z",
    "destination": {
        "port": 1080
    },
    "http": {
        "request": {
            "method": "POST"
        },
        "response": {
            "bytes": 758,
            "status_code": 200
        },
        "version": "1.1"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "related": {
        "ip": [
            "1.2.3.4"
        ]
    },
    "source": {
        "address": "1.2.3.4",
        "ip": "1.2.3.4",
        "port": 48866
    },
    "url": {
        "path": "/lookupservice/sdk"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "commit_time": "0",
        "conn_status": "+",
        "thread": "tomcat-http--47"
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-05-11T10:22:31.093Z info vpxd[22222] [Originator@6876 sub=vpxLro opID=abcdef01] [VpxLRO] -- FINISH lro--1111111111",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "reason": "FINISH lro--1111111111",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:31.093000Z",
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "process": {
        "name": "vpxd",
        "pid": 22222
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-05-11T10:22:38.102Z info vpxd[22222] [Originator@6876 sub=vpxLro opID=abcdef01] [VpxLRO] -- BEGIN lro--1111111111 -- ServiceInstance -- vim.ServiceInstance.retrieveContent -- 47f5e298-9aee-4e21-b69b-abc3efd9cd4e(54b2ae59-1b21-4de8-bab0-0d9a415debce)",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "reason": "BEGIN lro--1111111111 -- ServiceInstance -- vim.ServiceInstance.retrieveContent -- 47f5e298-9aee-4e21-b69b-abc3efd9cd4e(54b2ae59-1b21-4de8-bab0-0d9a415debce)",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:38.102000Z",
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "process": {
        "name": "vpxd",
        "pid": 22222
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-05-11T10:22:33.027Z [pool-24-thread-1] INFO opId=sps-Main-656189-570 com.vmware.vslm.globalcache.GlobalCatalogCache - Calling bulkUpdate with datastore=ds:///vmfs/volumes/1111111-22222222/ fullSync=false changed size: 0 tidyVClock=0 serverLastVClock=-1",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "reason": "Calling bulkUpdate with datastore=ds:///vmfs/volumes/1111111-22222222/ fullSync=false changed size: 0 tidyVClock=0 serverLastVClock=-1",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:33.027000Z",
    "log": {
        "level": "INFO"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "process": {
        "name": "com.vmware.vslm.globalcache.GlobalCatalogCache"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "operationID": "sps-Main-656189-570",
        "thread": "pool-24-thread-1"
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.181+0000: 23134193.224: [GC (Allocation Failure)",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "reason": "GC (Allocation Failure)",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.181000Z",
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    }
}

{
    "message": "Desired survivor size 1572864 bytes, new threshold 1 (max 15)",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "reason": "Desired survivor size 1572864 bytes, new threshold 1 (max 15)",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    }
}

{
    "message": "[2023-05-11T13:05:44.744Z] [INFO ] PI-client-connection-monitor c.v.v.a.vapi.runtime.thread.ApacheBioHttpClientBuilderAspect vAPI-client-connection-monitor thread started...",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "reason": "PI-client-connection-monitor c.v.v.a.vapi.runtime.thread.ApacheBioHttpClientBuilderAspect vAPI-client-connection-monitor thread started...",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T13:05:44.744000Z",
    "log": {
        "level": "INFO"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    }
}

{
    "message": "Event [182269] [1-1] [2024-02-12T10:41:48.631649Z] [vim.event.VmAcquiredTicketEvent] [info] [EXAMPLE.LOCAL\\Administrator] [Datacenter] [182269] [A ticket for root of type MKS on 5.6.7.8 in Datacenter has been acquired]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "code": "vim.event.VmAcquiredTicketEvent",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2024-02-12T10:41:48.631649Z",
    "host": {
        "ip": "5.6.7.8"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "related": {
        "ip": [
            "5.6.7.8"
        ],
        "user": [
            "root"
        ]
    },
    "user": {
        "name": "root"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "event_id": "182269"
    }
}

{
    "message": "Event [180270] [1-1] [2024-02-09T09:37:10.715328Z] [vim.event.VmAcquiredTicketEvent] [info] [EXAMPLE.LOCAL\\Administrator] [Datacenter] [180270] [A ticket for john.doe of type MKS on 5.6.7.8 in Datacenter has been acquired]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "code": "vim.event.VmAcquiredTicketEvent",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2024-02-09T09:37:10.715328Z",
    "host": {
        "ip": "5.6.7.8"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "related": {
        "ip": [
            "5.6.7.8"
        ],
        "user": [
            "john.doe"
        ]
    },
    "user": {
        "name": "john.doe"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "event_id": "180270"
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.187+0000: 23134193.230: [WeakReference, 0 refs, 0.0000061 secs]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "reason": "WeakReference, 0 refs, 0.0000061 secs]",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.187000Z",
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.187+0000: 23134193.230: [FinalReference, 150 refs, 0.0004388 secs]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "reason": "FinalReference, 150 refs, 0.0004388 secs]",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.187000Z",
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.188+0000: 23134193.230: [PhantomReference, 0 refs, 0 refs, 0.0000065 secs]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "reason": "PhantomReference, 0 refs, 0 refs, 0.0000065 secs]",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.188000Z",
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.188+0000: 23134193.230: [JNI Weak Reference, 0.0000149 secs]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "reason": "JNI Weak Reference, 0.0000149 secs]",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.188000Z",
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    }
}

{
    "message": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.187+0000: 23134193.230: [SoftReference, 0 refs, 0.0000457 secs]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "network"
        ],
        "reason": "SoftReference, 0 refs, 0.0000457 secs]",
        "type": [
            "connection"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:26.187000Z",
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    }
}

{
    "message": "Event [11111111] [1-1] [2023-02-13T18:07:37.243162Z] [vim.event.BadUsernameSessionEvent] [error] [local-vpxuser] [hostname] [11111111] [Cannot login local-vpxuser@5.6.7.8]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "authentication"
        ],
        "code": "vim.event.BadUsernameSessionEvent",
        "type": [
            "end"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-02-13T18:07:37.243162Z",
    "host": {
        "ip": "5.6.7.8",
        "name": "hostname"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "error"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "related": {
        "ip": [
            "5.6.7.8"
        ],
        "user": [
            "local-vpxuser"
        ]
    },
    "source": {
        "user": {
            "name": "local-vpxuser"
        }
    },
    "user": {
        "name": "local-vpxuser"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "event_id": "11111111"
    }
}

{
    "message": "Event [11111111] [1-1] [2023-05-11T09:13:29.569403Z] [vim.event.UserLoginSessionEvent] [info] [VSPHERE.LOCAL\\vpxd-extension-3876e603-9146-4105-90ff-075afdf17160] [] [11111111] [User VSPHERE.LOCAL\\vpxd-extension-3876e603-9146-4105-90ff-075afdf17160@10.79.48.3 logged in as VMware vim-java 1.0]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "authentication"
        ],
        "code": "vim.event.UserLoginSessionEvent",
        "type": [
            "start"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T09:13:29.569403Z",
    "host": {
        "ip": "10.79.48.3"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "related": {
        "ip": [
            "10.79.48.3"
        ],
        "user": [
            "VMware vim-java 1.0",
            "vpxd-extension-3876e603-9146-4105-90ff-075afdf17160"
        ]
    },
    "source": {
        "user": {
            "domain": "VSPHERE.LOCAL",
            "name": "vpxd-extension-3876e603-9146-4105-90ff-075afdf17160"
        }
    },
    "user": {
        "name": "VMware vim-java 1.0"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "event_id": "11111111"
    }
}

{
    "message": "Event [11111111] [1-1] [2023-02-14T15:45:26.279286Z] [vim.event.UserLoginSessionEvent] [info] [root] [hostname] [11111111] [User root@127.0.0.1 logged in as pyvmomi]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "authentication"
        ],
        "code": "vim.event.UserLoginSessionEvent",
        "type": [
            "start"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-02-14T15:45:26.279286Z",
    "host": {
        "ip": "127.0.0.1"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "related": {
        "ip": [
            "127.0.0.1"
        ],
        "user": [
            "pyvmomi",
            "root"
        ]
    },
    "source": {
        "user": {
            "name": "root"
        }
    },
    "user": {
        "name": "pyvmomi"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "event_id": "11111111"
    }
}

{
    "message": "Event [11111111] [1-1] [2023-02-14T15:46:37.629206Z] [vim.event.UserLogoutSessionEvent] [info] [root] [hostname] [11111111] [User root@127.0.0.1 logged out (login time: Tuesday, 14 February, 2023 03:46:37 PM, number of API invocations: 7, user agent: pyvmomi Python/3.8.13 (VMkernel; 7.0.3; x86_64))]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "authentication"
        ],
        "code": "vim.event.UserLogoutSessionEvent",
        "type": [
            "end"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-02-14T15:46:37.629206Z",
    "host": {
        "ip": "127.0.0.1",
        "name": "hostname"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "related": {
        "ip": [
            "127.0.0.1"
        ]
    },
    "user_agent": {
        "device": {
            "name": "Other"
        },
        "name": "Other",
        "original": "pyvmomi Python/3.8.13 (VMkernel; 7.0.3; x86_64))",
        "os": {
            "name": "Other"
        }
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "api_invocations": "7",
        "event_id": "11111111",
        "login_time": "Tuesday, 14 February, 2023 03:46:37 PM"
    }
}

{
    "message": "Event [11111111] [1-1] [2023-02-14T15:48:27.711996Z] [vim.event.EventEx] [info] [] [hostname] [11111111] [SSH session was opened for root@1.2.3.4.]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "authentication"
        ],
        "code": "vim.event.EventEx",
        "type": [
            "info"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-02-14T15:48:27.711996Z",
    "host": {
        "ip": "1.2.3.4",
        "name": "hostname"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "related": {
        "ip": [
            "1.2.3.4"
        ],
        "user": [
            "root"
        ]
    },
    "user": {
        "name": "root"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "event_id": "11111111"
    }
}

{
    "message": "Event [11111111] [1-1] [2023-05-11T10:22:07.587451Z] [vim.event.EventEx] [info] [] [hostname] [11111111] [SSH session was closed for root@1.2.3.4.]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "authentication"
        ],
        "code": "vim.event.EventEx",
        "type": [
            "info"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-05-11T10:22:07.587451Z",
    "host": {
        "ip": "1.2.3.4",
        "name": "hostname"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "related": {
        "ip": [
            "1.2.3.4"
        ],
        "user": [
            "root"
        ]
    },
    "user": {
        "name": "root"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "event_id": "11111111"
    }
}

{
    "message": "Event [11111111] [1-1] [2023-02-09T19:47:59.332412Z] [vim.event.AlreadyAuthenticatedSessionEvent] [info] [hostname] [] [11111111] [User cannot logon since the user is already logged on]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "authentication"
        ],
        "code": "vim.event.AlreadyAuthenticatedSessionEvent",
        "reason": "already logged on",
        "type": [
            "end"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-02-09T19:47:59.332412Z",
    "host": {
        "name": "hostname"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "event_id": "11111111"
    }
}

{
    "message": "Event [22091524] [1-1] [2023-11-29T15:51:06.726839Z] [vim.event.UserLoginSessionEvent] [info] [EXAMPLE\\john_doe] [] [22091524] [User EXAMPLE\\john_doe@1.2.3.4 logged in as JAAA-WS RI 2.3.0 svn-revision#3528ea595bd29309f69172d231bbce272d21999c]",
    "event": {
        "category": [
            "authentication"
        ],
        "code": "vim.event.UserLoginSessionEvent",
        "type": [
            "start"
        ]
    },
    "@timestamp": "2023-11-29T15:51:06.726839Z",
    "host": {
        "ip": "1.2.3.4"
    },
    "log": {
        "level": "info"
    },
    "observer": {
        "product": "VCenter",
        "vendor": "VMWare"
    },
    "related": {
        "ip": [
            "1.2.3.4"
        ],
        "user": [
            "JAAA-WS RI 2.3.0 svn-revision#3528ea595bd29309f69172d231bbce272d21999c",
            "john_doe"
        ]
    },
    "source": {
        "user": {
            "domain": "EXAMPLE",
            "name": "john_doe"
        }
    },
    "user": {
        "name": "JAAA-WS RI 2.3.0 svn-revision#3528ea595bd29309f69172d231bbce272d21999c"
    },
    "vmware_vcenter": {
        "event_id": "22091524"
    }
}

Extracted Fields

The following table lists the fields that are extracted, normalized under the ECS format, analyzed and indexed by the parser. It should be noted that infered fields are not listed.

Name Type Description
@timestamp date Date/time when the event originated.
client.geo.country_iso_code keyword Country ISO code.
destination.ip ip IP address of the destination.
destination.port long Port of the destination.
event.code keyword Identification code for this event.
event.reason keyword Reason why this event happened, according to the source
host.ip ip Host ip addresses.
host.name keyword Name of the host.
http.request.method keyword HTTP request method.
http.response.bytes long Total size in bytes of the response (body and headers).
http.response.status_code long HTTP response status code.
http.version keyword HTTP version.
log.level keyword Log level of the log event.
observer.product keyword The product name of the observer.
observer.vendor keyword Vendor name of the observer.
process.end date The time the process ended.
process.name keyword Process name.
process.pid long Process id.
source.address keyword Source network address.
source.ip ip IP address of the source.
source.port long Port of the source.
source.user.domain keyword Name of the directory the user is a member of.
source.user.name keyword Short name or login of the user.
url.path wildcard Path of the request, such as "/search".
user.name keyword Short name or login of the user.
user_agent.original keyword Unparsed user_agent string.
vmware_vcenter.api_invocations keyword The number of API invocations made
vmware_vcenter.commit_time keyword The timestamp indicating the time of committing changes or updates
vmware_vcenter.conn_status keyword The connection status or state of a component or service
vmware_vcenter.datetime keyword The date and time of a specific event or operation
vmware_vcenter.event_id keyword vmware vcenter event id
vmware_vcenter.host.ip2 keyword he second IP address associated with a host
vmware_vcenter.login_time keyword The timestamp indicating the login time of the user
vmware_vcenter.network.port keyword port number associated with a network
vmware_vcenter.network.port2 keyword The second port number associated with a network
vmware_vcenter.operationID keyword
vmware_vcenter.thread keyword The identifier or name of the thread associated with a process
vmware_vcenter.upstream_status keyword The status or condition of an upstream component or connection

Configure

Prerequisites

An internal log concentrator is required to collect and forward events to Sekoia.io.

Enable Syslog forwarding

Follow this guide to enable the log forwarding to the log concentrator.

Create the intake

Go to the intake page and create a new intake from the format VMWare VCenter.

Forward logs to Sekoia.io

Please consult the Syslog Forwarding documentation to forward these logs to Sekoia.io.