Advanced Configuration

Overview

Evidence: Advanced Configuration Description: ESXi Advanced Configuration Category: System Platform: esxi Short Name: advconf Is Parsed: Yes Sent to Investigation Hub: Yes Collect File(s): No

Background

ESXi advanced configuration settings control low-level hypervisor behavior, security policies, and system parameters. These settings can be modified to weaken security, enable backdoors, or alter logging behavior, making them valuable for detecting unauthorized system modifications.

Data Collected

This collector gathers structured data about advanced configuration.

Advanced Configuration Data

Field	Description	Example
AccessTime	Access Time	2023-10-15 14:30:25+03:00
AccessCount	Access Count	123
URL	URL	Example value
Browser	Browser	Example value
Title	Title	Example value
VisitDuration	Visit Duration	Example value
Referrer	Referrer	Example value
TypedCount	Typed Count	123
IsHidden	Is Hidden	true
TransitionType	Transition Type	Example value
VisitID	Visit ID	123
TransitionQualifiers	Transition Qualifiers	Example value
User	User	Example value
Profile	Profile	Example value
HistoryFilePath	History File Path	Example value

Collection Method

This collector parses the advanced configuration file containing key-value pairs of ESXi system settings, extracting configuration parameter names and their corresponding values as defined in the host's advanced options.

Forensic Value

Advanced configuration analysis reveals security policy changes, unauthorized parameter modifications, and potential indicators of compromise. Comparing settings against baselines helps detect malicious configuration changes, disabled security features, or altered logging that may hide attacker activities.