Detection rules › Splunk
ESXi SSH Enabled
This detection identifies SSH being enabled on ESXi hosts, which can be an early indicator of malicious activity. Threat actors often use SSH to gain persistent remote access after compromising credentials or exploiting vulnerabilities.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Lateral Movement | T1021.004 Remote Services: SSH |
Rule body splunk
name: ESXi SSH Enabled
id: b8003567-c5b6-445b-8966-ecdacc81c24d
version: 5
creation_date: '2025-07-11'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Raven Tait, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: This detection identifies SSH being enabled on ESXi hosts, which can be an early indicator of malicious activity. Threat actors often use SSH to gain persistent remote access after compromising credentials or exploiting vulnerabilities.
data_source:
- VMWare ESXi Syslog
search: '`esxi_syslog` Message="*SSH access has been enabled" | rex field=_raw "Z (?<dest>[\w\.]+)\s" | stats min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime count by dest Message | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `esxi_ssh_enabled_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: Limited false positives in most environments, however tune as needed. Some Administrators may use SSH for troubleshooting.
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 ("$dest$") | 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: 7d
latest_offset: "0"
finding:
title: SSH was enabled on ESXi host $dest$.
entity:
field: dest
type: system
score: 50
analytic_story:
- ESXi Post Compromise
- Black Basta Ransomware
- Hellcat Ransomware
asset_type: Infrastructure
mitre_attack_id:
- T1021.004
product:
- Splunk Enterprise
- Splunk Enterprise Security
- Splunk Cloud
category: application
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
- name: True Positive Test
attack_data:
- data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/attack_techniques/T1021.004/esxi_ssh_enabled/esxi_ssh_enabled.log
source: vmware:esxlog
sourcetype: vmw-syslog
test_type: unit
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`esxi_syslog` Message="*SSH access has been enabled"
Stage 2: rex
| rex field=_raw "Z (?<dest>[\w\.]+)\s"
Stage 3: stats
| stats min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime count by dest Message
Stage 4: search
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
Stage 5: search
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
Stage 6: search
| `esxi_ssh_enabled_filter`
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 |
|---|---|---|
Message | eq |
|
sourcetype | in |
|