Detection rules › Splunk
ESXi VIB Acceptance Level Tampering
This detection identifies changes to the VIB (vSphere Installation Bundle) acceptance level on an ESXi host. Modifying the acceptance level, such as setting it to CommunitySupported, lowers the system's integrity enforcement and may allow the installation of unsigned or unverified software.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage
| Tactic | Techniques |
|---|---|
| Defense Impairment | T1685 Disable or Modify Tools |
Rule body splunk
name: ESXi VIB Acceptance Level Tampering
id: d051d94f-c792-445e-b5d2-0b904f93ac09
version: 6
creation_date: '2025-07-11'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Raven Tait, Splunk
status: production
type: TTP
description: This detection identifies changes to the VIB (vSphere Installation Bundle) acceptance level on an ESXi host. Modifying the acceptance level, such as setting it to CommunitySupported, lowers the system's integrity enforcement and may allow the installation of unsigned or unverified software.
data_source:
- VMWare ESXi Syslog
search: '`esxi_syslog` Message="*esxcli software acceptance set*" Message="*shell*" | rex field=_raw "\]: \[(?<user>\w+)\]:(?<command>.+)" | rex field=_raw "Z (?<dest>[\w\.]+)\s" | stats min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime count by dest user command | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)` | `esxi_vib_acceptance_level_tampering_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 installing third party VIBs. Tune as needed.
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: VIB Acceptance level was modified on ESXi host $dest$ by $user$.
entity:
field: user
type: user
score: 50
intermediate_findings:
entities:
- field: dest
type: system
score: 50
message: VIB Acceptance level was modified on ESXi host $dest$ by $user$.
analytic_story:
- ESXi Post Compromise
- Black Basta Ransomware
- China-Nexus Threat Activity
asset_type: Infrastructure
mitre_attack_id:
- T1685
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/T1562/esxi_vib_acceptance_level_tampering/esxi_vib_acceptance_level_tampering.log
source: vmware:esxlog
sourcetype: vmw-syslog
test_type: unit
Stages and Predicates
Stage 1: search
`esxi_syslog` Message="*esxcli software acceptance set*" Message="*shell*"
Stage 2: rex
| rex field=_raw "\]: \[(?<user>\w+)\]:(?<command>.+)"
Stage 3: rex
| rex field=_raw "Z (?<dest>[\w\.]+)\s"
Stage 4: stats
| stats min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime count by dest user command
Stage 5: search
| `security_content_ctime(firstTime)`
Stage 6: search
| `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`
Stage 7: search
| `esxi_vib_acceptance_level_tampering_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 |
|