Beyond Convenience: Exposing the Risks of VMware vSphere Active Directory Integration

Broadcom's VMware vSphere remains crucial for private cloud virtualization, with workloads returning from public clouds. Direct vSphere-Active Directory (AD) integration simplifies administration but creates a significant security vulnerability. Compromising AD credentials grants access to the hypervisor, enabling control over ESXi hosts and vCenter. Ransomware targeting vSphere causes widespread infrastructure paralysis, especially with vSphere 7.x support ending soon. Proactive defense is crucial due to the difficulty and cost of recovery from such attacks. The inherent risks of vSphere's AD integration are often underestimated, stemming from a legacy architecture and outdated security assumptions. The ESXi hypervisor's specialized nature prevents standard security tools like EDR agents, leaving it vulnerable. Threat actors are increasingly targeting the hypervisor due to this gap, using compromised credentials and misconfigurations. Hypervisor-aware ransomware encrypts virtual disks, disabling numerous VMs simultaneously, posing a severe threat. Understanding the workings of the Likewise agent, responsible for vSphere's AD integration, reveals vulnerabilities in authentication and default trust relationships.