VMware ESXi - Multiple new VMs started

Status: available
Severity: medium
Time window: 10m
Group by: SrcUsername
Source: github.com/Azure/Azure-Sentinel

'Detects when multiple new VMs were started.'

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Tactic	Techniques
Initial Access	`T1078` Valid Accounts

Rule body kusto

id: bdea247f-7d17-498c-ac0e-c7e764cbdbbe
name: VMware ESXi - Multiple new VMs started
description: |
  'Detects when multiple new VMs were started.'
severity: Medium
status: Available
requiredDataConnectors:
  - connectorId: SyslogAma
    datatypes:
      - Syslog
queryFrequency: 1h
queryPeriod: 1h
triggerOperator: gt
triggerThreshold: 0
tactics:
  - InitialAccess
relevantTechniques:
  - T1078
query: |
  let threshold = 5;
  let a_vm = 
  VMwareESXi
  | where SyslogMessage has ('VmPoweredOnEvent')
  | extend DstHostname = extract(@'\[\d+\]\s+\[(.*?)\s+on', 1, SyslogMessage)
  | summarize vm_l = make_set(DstHostname,200)
  | extend k=1;
  VMwareESXi
  | where SyslogMessage has ('VmPoweredOnEvent')
  | extend DstHostname = extract(@'\[\d+\]\s+\[(.*?)\s+on', 1, SyslogMessage)
  | extend SrcUsername = extract(@'\[info\]\s+\[(.*?)\]', 1, SyslogMessage)
  | extend k = 1
  | join (a_vm) on k
  | where vm_l !has DstHostname
  | summarize n_vm = make_set(DstHostname,200) by SrcUsername, bin(TimeGenerated, 10m)
  | where array_length(n_vm) >= threshold
  | extend hostname = iff(array_length(n_vm) > 0, n_vm[0], "")
  | extend NTDomain = tostring(split(hostname, '\\', 1)[0]), HostName = tostring(split(hostname, '.', 0)[0])
entityMappings:
  - entityType: Host
    fieldMappings:
      - identifier: HostName
        columnName: HostName
      - identifier: NTDomain
        columnName: NTDomain
version: 1.0.3
kind: Scheduled

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

let threshold = 5;

Let binding: `a_vm`

let a_vm = VMwareESXi
| where SyslogMessage has ('VmPoweredOnEvent')
| extend DstHostname = extract(@'\[\d+\]\s+\[(.*?)\s+on', 1, SyslogMessage)
| summarize vm_l = make_set(DstHostname,200)
| extend k=1;

Stage 1: `source`

VMwareESXi

Stage 2: `where`

| where SyslogMessage has ('VmPoweredOnEvent')

Stage 3: `extend` (3 consecutive steps)

| extend DstHostname = extract(@'\[\d+\]\s+\[(.*?)\s+on', 1, SyslogMessage)
| extend SrcUsername = extract(@'\[info\]\s+\[(.*?)\]', 1, SyslogMessage)
| extend k = 1

Stage 4: `join`

| join (a_vm) on k

Stage 5: `where`

| where vm_l !has DstHostname

Stage 6: `summarize`

| summarize n_vm = make_set(DstHostname,200) by SrcUsername, bin(TimeGenerated, 10m)

Threshold: ge 5

Stage 7: `where`

| where array_length(n_vm) >= threshold

Stage 8: `extend`

| extend hostname = iff(array_length(n_vm) > 0, n_vm[0], "")

hostname =

ifn_vm > 0n_vm[0]

else""

Stage 9: `extend`

| extend NTDomain = tostring(split(hostname, '\\', 1)[0]), HostName = tostring(split(hostname, '.', 0)[0])

Exclusions

Top-level NOT(...) conjuncts: predicates this rule actively suppresses.

Field	Kind	Excluded values
`vm_l`	match	`DstHostname`

Indicators

Each row is a field, operator, and value that the rule matches. The corpus column counts how many other rules in the catalog look for the same combination: high numbers point to widely-used, community-vetted indicators. Blank or 1 shows that the indicator is specific to this rule.

Field	Kind	Values
`SyslogMessage`	match	`VmPoweredOnEvent` transforms: `term`
`n_vm`	ge	`5` transforms: `array_length`

Output fields

Fields the rule emits when it matches. Chronicle authors list these in the outcome block; they appear on the detection and $risk_score drives alerting. Sentinel / Defender XDR rules build them up through project / summarize / extend stages. Sentinel maps these into alert fields via entityMappings and customDetails; Defender XDR custom detections surface them as alert fields directly.

Field	Source
`SrcUsername`	`summarize`
`n_vm`	`summarize`
`hostname`	`extend`
`HostName`	`extend`
`NTDomain`	`extend`

`j` / `k`	Scroll down / up
`d` / `u`	Half-page down / up
`gg` / `G`	Top / bottom
`h` / `l`	History back / forward
`f`	Follow link (`Shift` = new tab)
`/`	Focus search
`?`	Toggle this help
`↑` / `↓`	Navigate search results
`Enter`	Open highlighted result
`Esc`	Close results / dialog

`type:`	`events` / `rules` / `providers`
`vendor:`	`sigma` / `elastic` / `splunk` / `kusto` / `chronicle` (vendor name alone also works: `sigma:`, `kql:`, `secops:`…)
`tactic:`	TA-id, slug, or name: `credential_access`, `TA0006`
`technique:`	technique or sub-technique ID: `T1003`, `T1003.001` (alias `tech:`)
`severity:`	`critical` / `high` / `medium` / `low` / `informational` (alias `sev:`)
`risk_score`	Numeric comparison on the Elastic risk score (0 to 100): `risk_score>50`, `risk_score<=20`, `risk_score=99` (alias `risk`; Elastic rules only)
`stages:`	Rules with exactly N pipeline stages
`correlation:`	`single_event` / `sequence` / `alternatives` / `alternatives_cross_log` / `all_required` / `correlated`
`with:`	Co-occurrence event-id; stacks (`with:4624 with:4769`) to require all, while a comma list in one occurrence (`with:4624,4769`) is an either-or group. Implies multi-event
`like:`	Structural neighbors of a rule slug (equivalents + subsumption stricter / broader): `like:comsvcs_lsass_memory_dump-splunk-sysmon`
`groupby:`	Entity-grouping substring match against `group_by_keys`: `groupby:user`, `groupby:host`
`uses:`	Rules whose predicate tree touches the field (any kind, any value): `uses:CommandLine`
`excludes:`	Rules with top-level `not()` clauses on the field (FP whitelists): `excludes:ParentImage`
`field:` / `value:`	Predicate search; narrows rule cards to those with a matching leaf and drives the indicator tier. Unquoted = substring, wildcards allowed (`value:mimikatz`)
`indicator:`	Shorthand for `field:F value:V`: `indicator:Image=*\powershell.exe`
`kind:`	Filter by predicate kind. Narrows rule cards to those carrying a matching predicate leaf (`vendor:elastic kind:cidr_match`) and drives the indicator tier: `contains` / `starts_with` / `ends_with` / `regex` / `cidr` / `eq` / `in` … (operator aliases `op:`/`match:`)
`has:` / `no:`	`sample`, `field`, `notes`, `refs`, `trace`, `thirdparty`, `rule`, `pattern`, `timewindow`, `threshold`, `newterms`, `sigma`/`elastic`/`splunk`/`kusto`/`chronicle`
`-op:val`	Exclude matches; works on most operators but not `type:`/`like:`/`has:`/`no:` (use `no:<flag>` to exclude a rule flag): `tactic:execution -vendor:splunk`. Standalone `-kind:`/`-field:`/`-value:` drop every rule carrying a matching predicate leaf (`type:rules -kind:is_null`)
`field:"…"` / `value:"…"`	Quoted value = anchored exact match (also allows spaces): `value:"net user"`
`a,b`	Comma = OR inside one operator (`vendor:sigma,elastic`, `severity:high,critical`); repeating a facet merges the same way. `field:`/`value:` never split (literal commas)
`vendors:` / `stage:`	Singular and plural spellings fold to the canonical operator and value: `tactics:` = `tactic:`, `type:event` = `type:events`, `correlation:sequences` = `correlation:sequence`, `has:thresholds` = `has:threshold`
`"quoted phrase"`	Exact-match a multi-word phrase (free text)

VMware ESXi - Multiple new VMs started

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Let binding: `a_vm`

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `extend` (3 consecutive steps)

Stage 4: `join`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `summarize`

Stage 7: `where`

Stage 8: `extend`

Stage 9: `extend`

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Keyboard shortcuts

Search operators

VMware ESXi - Multiple new VMs started

MITRE ATT&CK coverage

Rule body kusto

Stages and Predicates

Parameters

Let binding: a_vm

Stage 1: source

Stage 2: where

Stage 3: extend (3 consecutive steps)

Stage 4: join

Stage 5: where

Stage 6: summarize

Stage 7: where

Stage 8: extend

Stage 9: extend

Exclusions

Indicators

Output fields

Let binding: `a_vm`

Stage 1: `source`

Stage 2: `where`

Stage 3: `extend` (3 consecutive steps)

Stage 4: `join`

Stage 5: `where`

Stage 6: `summarize`

Stage 7: `where`

Stage 8: `extend`

Stage 9: `extend`