Elastic Security Detection Rules

ESXi Virtual Machine Process List

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

About

Detects `esxcli vm process list` on an ESXi host. The command lists running virtual machines and the world IDs of their `vmx` processes. Those IDs are what a later kill command uses to stop the VMs and release the locks on their virtual disks.
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)

↳ Process Discovery (T1057)(external, opens in a new tab or window)

False Positive Examples
Administrators list virtual machines during maintenance and troubleshooting. Review whether the same session then kills those processes or searches the datastore.
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 event.module: "vsphere" and message: ("esxcli" and "vm process list")

Install detection rules in Elastic Security

Detect ESXi Virtual Machine Process List 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).