Suspicious VMware PCI Device Disabled via Devcon

ATT&CK techniques

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects devcon.exe being used to disable the VMware PCI device identified by hardware ID PCI\VEN_15AD&DEV_0740, a manipulation observed in in-the-wild ESXi VM escape activity. Disabling the VMCI or hypervisor-facing device weakens host isolation and supports the escape and defense-evasion chain. Legitimate use of devcon against VMware virtual hardware IDs is rare and warrants investigation.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious VMware PCI Device Disabled via Devcon

Pivot detection · T1686 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

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