VMware Harden

What zw008/VMware-Harden MCP server does

The zw008/VMware-Harden MCP server provides read-only compliance assessment for VMware vSphere and NSX environments. It collects configuration and inventory observations, evaluates them against built-in baselines, stores observations in a local Twin database, and reports violations and drift. The project is community-maintained, open source under the MIT license, and is not affiliated with VMware or Broadcom.

Nine baseline identifiers are available, representing 99 rules across the rule-bearing definitions and two v9 aliases. Coverage includes CIS ESXi 8.0 and 9.0, vSphere Security Configuration Guide versions 8 and 9, vSphere 9 STIG-aligned checks, China DJCP 2.0 Level 3, PCI-DSS 4.0, EU NIS2, and BSI IT-Grundschutz. The STIG-aligned v9 baseline is experimental and should not be treated as authoritative on ESXi 9.x.

How it works

The zw008/VMware-Harden MCP server runs collectors to gather data from VMware systems, then evaluates only rules for which the required attributes are available. A missing collector attribute leaves a rule unevaluated. Missing data for a particular host, such as from an unreachable node or insufficient account privileges, is reported separately as an undetermined node check.

MCP responses include a coverage block alongside violations. Therefore, a result with zero violations does not by itself prove compliance. The scan_target operation writes to the local Twin database at ~/.vmware-harden/twin.duckdb; it does not write to vSphere or NSX. All eight MCP tools are marked read-only. Remediation is suggested rather than applied, and write operations are deferred to vmware-pilot's approval and audit workflow.

Setup and configuration

Install the package with its collectors extra when scanning live targets:

uv tool install "vmware-harden[collectors]"

For reporting against an existing Twin database, the base package can be installed without the collectors extra. Baselines can be listed with vmware-harden baseline list, scans can select a target and baseline, and results can be viewed with vmware-harden report or vmware-harden drift. A local dashboard can be started with vmware-harden web --port 8080.

Remediation advice can run without an external model key using a mock fallback. Setting ANTHROPIC_API_KEY enables the optional Anthropic-backed advice path described by the project. Source installation supports normal wheel installation with pip install ., and offline installation can use locally built wheels.

Tools and capabilities

• Scan vSphere targets against selected compliance baselines.
• Report violations and evaluation coverage in human-readable or JSON output.
• Detect configuration drift using the local Twin database.
• Generate remediation suggestions for critical findings.
• Expose eight audited, read-only MCP tools.
• Serve a local web dashboard.

Limitations and notes

The project does not apply remediation to managed VMware infrastructure. Results depend on collector coverage, host reachability, and the privileges of the scanning account. The v9 STIG baseline was verified on ESXi 8.0.3 but remains unverified for ESXi 9.x and vCenter-managed multi-host inventories. Treat those results as non-authoritative until validated in the target environment.