CISA released an alert yesterday regarding VMware’s recommendations for threat hunting and securing your VMware environments from Malware due to Mandiant’s report. (https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/current-activity/2022/09/29/vmware-releases-guidance-virtualpita-virtualpie-and-virtualgate)

Mandiant released a blog yesterday on “Investigating Novel Malware Persistence Within ESXi Hypervisors” (https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/esxi-hypervisors-malware-persistence)

So what does this all mean for you?

First, don’t go running down the street with your hands in the air as Mandiant has not uncovered any vulnerabilities that were exploited to gain access to ESXi. Threat actors would still need the proper rights (root) on ESXi to install backdoor VIBs. However, since many people use central authentication systems like Active Directory though, it may be easier for threat actors to pivot into your environment if Active Directory is compromised.

The CISA link above provides all of VMware’s important links to make sure you are secured as possible. I’d highly recommend reading through all of the material here that VMware has put out.

The best thing you can do is setup Defense in Depth.