← Back to VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance User Interface (UI) Security Technical Implementation Guide

V-259122

CAT II (Medium)

The vCenter UI service cookies must have "http-only" flag set.

Rule ID

SV-259122r935270_rule

STIG

VMware vSphere 8.0 vCenter Appliance User Interface (UI) Security Technical Implementation Guide

Version

V1R1

CCIs

CCI-000213

Discussion

Cookies are a common way to save session state over the HTTP(S) protocol. If attackers can compromise session data stored in a cookie, they are better able to launch an attack against the server and its applications. When a cookie is tagged with the "HttpOnly" flag, it tells the browser this particular cookie should only be accessed by the originating server. Any attempt to access the cookie from client script is strictly forbidden.

Check Content

At the command prompt, run the following command:

# xmllint --format /usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-ui/server/conf/web.xml | sed 's/xmlns=".*"//g' | xmllint --xpath '/web-app/session-config/cookie-config/http-only' -

Expected result:

<http-only>true</http-only>

If the output does not match the expected result, this is a finding.

Fix Text

Navigate to and open:

/usr/lib/vmware-vsphere-ui/server/conf/web.xml

Navigate to the <session-config> node and configure the <http-only> as follows:

<session-config>
  <session-timeout>30</session-timeout>
  <cookie-config>
      <http-only>true</http-only>
      <secure>true</secure>
  </cookie-config>
</session-config>

Restart the service with the following command:

# vmon-cli --restart vsphere-ui