Elastic Security Detection Rules

ESXi Virtual Disk Files Enumerated

Last updated 2 days ago on 2026-09-30
Created 2 days ago on 2026-09-30

About

Detects a shell search under `/vmfs/volumes` for virtual disk and snapshot files (`vmdk`, `vmsn`, `vmsd`). Those files are the guest disks and their on-host recovery points. Listing them builds the set of files a later process can encrypt or delete.
Tags
Domain: EndpointData Source: VMware vSphereUse Case: Threat DetectionTactic: DiscoveryRule Type: Custom Query (KQL)Platform: VMware ESXiThreat: RansomwareLanguage: kuery
Severity
low
Risk Score
21
MITRE ATT&CK™

Discovery (TA0007)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

↳ File and Directory Discovery (T1083)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
Capacity reports, backup troubleshooting, and support scripts list `vmdk` files on a datastore. Review the account and whether the search was followed by process kills or snapshot removal.
License
Elastic License v2(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Definition

Rule Type
Query (Kibana Query Language)
Integration Pack
Prebuilt Security Detection Rules
Index Patterns
logs-vsphere.log-*
Related Integrations

vsphere(external, opens in a new tab or window)

Query
text code block:
data_stream.dataset:vsphere.log and message:("/vmfs/volumes" and find and (vmdk or vmsd or vmsn))

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect ESXi Virtual Disk Files Enumerated in the Elastic Security detection engine by installing this rule into your Elastic Stack.

To setup this rule, check out the installation guide for Prebuilt Security Detection Rules(external, opens in a new tab or window).