Sigma rule: ESXi VM List Discovery Via ESXCLI

Rule

Title

ESXi VM List Discovery Via ESXCLI

Status

test

Level

medium

Author

Cedric Maurugeon

Date

2023-09-04

File

rules/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_esxcli_vm_discovery.yml

Commit

ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84

Detects execution of the "esxcli" command with the "vm" flag in order to retrieve information about the installed VMs.

Log source

product

linux

category

process_creation

Detection

selection:
    Image|endswith: '/esxcli'
    CommandLine|contains: 'vm process'
    CommandLine|endswith: ' list'
condition: selection

False positives (as the rule lists them)

• Legitimate administration activities

Tags

• attack.discovery
• attack.execution
• attack.t1033
• attack.t1007
• attack.t1059.012

MITRE ATT&CK ids this rule names

• T1007
• T1033
• T1059.012

References

• https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/hypervisor-jackpotting-ecrime-actors-increase-targeting-of-esxi-servers/
• https://developer.broadcom.com/xapis/esxcli-command-reference/7.0.0/namespace/esxcli_vm.html
• https://www.secuinfra.com/en/techtalk/hide-your-hypervisor-analysis-of-esxiargs-ransomware/
• https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/22/e/new-linux-based-ransomware-cheerscrypt-targets-exsi-devices.html

Read on 2026-11-03T00:58:21.399Z under licence sigma-drl-1.1@d5f4c36a from https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/ccbb0369507f796db0b0ae6854c8a2be471b9d84/rules/linux/process_creation/proc_creation_lnx_esxcli_vm_discovery.yml