Possible ESXi VSAN Information Enumeration Through ESXCLI (via process_creation)

title: Possible ESXi VSAN Information Enumeration Through ESXCLI (via process_creation)
id: 664ee0ac-5d1f-5d54-897e-787431cfb794
status: stable
description: This rule detects execution of the "esxcli" command with the "vsan" flag to retrieve information about virtual storage. Seen used by malware such as DarkSide.
references:
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1059/012/
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1007/
    - https://attack.mitre.org/techniques/T1033/
    - https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/21/e/darkside-linux-vms-targeted.html
    - https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/22/a/analysis-and-Impact-of-lockbit-ransomwares-first-linux-and-vmware-esxi-variant.html
    - https://developer.broadcom.com/xapis/esxcli-command-reference/7.0.0/namespace/esxcli_vsan.html
author: Huntrule Team
date: 2026-07-04
tags:
    - attack.discovery
    - attack.execution
    - attack.t1033
    - attack.t1007
    - attack.t1059.012
logsource:
    category: process_creation
    product: linux
detection:
    selection_img:
        Image|endswith: '/esxcli'
        CommandLine|contains: 'vsan'
    selection_cli:
        CommandLine|contains:
            - ' get'
            - ' list'
    condition: all of selection_*
falsepositives:
    - Unknown
level: medium