Name:ESXi VM Exported via Remote Tool id:2e155547-aaac-49d3-b0ef-ceabc31fd364 version:1 date:2025-05-15 author:Raven Tait, Splunk status:production type:TTP Description:This detection identifies the use of a remote tool to download virtual machine disk files from a datastore. The NFC protocol is used by management tools to transfer files to and from ESXi hosts, but it can also be abused by attackers or insiders to exfiltrate full virtual disk images Data_source:
-VMWare ESXi Syslog
search:`esxi_syslog` Message="*File download from path*" Message="*was initiated from*" | rex field=_raw "from path '\[(?<Datastore>[^\]]+)\](?<VMPath>[^']+)'" | rex field=_raw "initiated from '(?<InitiatorTool>[^/]+)/(?<ToolVersion>[^@]+)@(?<InitiatorIP>\d{1,3}(?:\.\d{1,3}){3})'" | rex field=_raw "Z (?<dest>[\w\.]+)\s" | stats min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime count by Datastore VMPath InitiatorTool ToolVersion InitiatorIP dest | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `esxi_vm_exported_via_remote_tool_filter`
how_to_implement:This is based on syslog data generated by VMware ESXi hosts. To implement this search, you must configure your ESXi systems to forward syslog output to your Splunk deployment. These logs must be ingested with the appropriate Splunk Technology Add-on for VMware ESXi Logs, which provides field extractions and CIM compatibility. known_false_positives:Administrators may use this command when troubleshooting. Tune as needed. References: drilldown_searches: name:'View the detection results for - "$dest$"' search:'%original_detection_search% | search dest = "$dest$"' earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' name:'View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$dest$"' search:'| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$dest$") starthoursago=168 | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`' earliest_offset:'$info_min_time$' latest_offset:'$info_max_time$' tags: analytic_story: - 'ESXi Post Compromise' - 'Black Basta Ransomware' asset_type:Infrastructure mitre_attack_id: - 'T1005' product: - 'Splunk Enterprise' - 'Splunk Enterprise Security' - 'Splunk Cloud' security_domain:endpoint
