Virtual machines (VMs) must remove unneeded USB devices.

Ensure no device is connected to a virtual machine if it is not required. For example, floppy, serial, and parallel ports are rarely used for virtual machines in a data center environment, and CD/DVD drives are usually connected only temporarily during software installation.

For each virtual machine do the following:

From the vSphere Client, right-click the Virtual Machine and go to "Edit Settings".

Review the VM's hardware and verify no USB devices exist.

or

From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host or vCenter server, run the following commands:

Get-VM | Where {$_.ExtensionData.Config.Hardware.Device.DeviceInfo.Label -match "usb"} Get-VM | Get-UsbDevice

If a virtual machine has any USB devices or USB controllers present, this is a finding.

If USB smart card readers are used to pass smart cards through the VM console to a VM, the use of a USB controller and USB devices for that purpose is not a finding.

For each virtual machine do the following:

From the vSphere Client, right-click the Virtual Machine and go to "Edit Settings".

Select the USB controller, click the circled "X" to remove it, and click "OK".

or

From a PowerCLI command prompt while connected to the ESXi host or vCenter server, run the following command:

Get-VM "VM Name" | Get-USBDevice | Remove-USBDevice

Note: This will not remove the USB controller, just any connected devices.