Conducting an NSX (Network Virtualization and Security Platform, typically VMware NSX-T or NSX-V) audit across the Management Plane, Control Plane, and Data Plane ensures comprehensive evaluation of security, compliance, performance, and operational integrity. Each plane plays a distinct role in the NSX architecture, and auditing them separately allows for targeted assessments.
Below is a structured breakdown of NSX Audit Topics and Approaches for each plane:
1. Management Plane Audit
The Management Plane is responsible for configuration, policy definition, monitoring, and orchestration (via NSX Manager, APIs, UI, and integration with vCenter or cloud platforms).
Audit Topics:
- Authentication & Authorization
- Are strong authentication mechanisms (e.g., LDAP/AD integration, MFA) in place?
- Are role-based access controls (RBAC) properly defined and enforced?
- Are unused or default accounts disabled?
- Logging & Monitoring
- Are audit logs enabled for all management activities?
- Are logs centrally collected (e.g., via SIEM) and protected from tampering?
- Are log retention policies compliant with organizational or regulatory standards?
- API Security
- Are API endpoints secured (HTTPS, rate limiting, token-based auth)?
- Are API access logs reviewed regularly?
- Are third-party integrations (e.g., Terraform, vRealize) using secure credentials?
- Firmware & Patch Management
- Is the NSX Manager updated to the latest supported version?
- Are security patches applied in a timely manner?
- Is there a documented change control process?
- Backup & Disaster Recovery
- Are NSX Manager configurations backed up regularly?
- Are backup integrity and restoration procedures tested?
- Compliance & Configuration Drift
- Are configurations aligned with organizational security baselines (e.g., CIS benchmarks)?
- Is configuration drift detected and remediated?
Audit Approach:
- Review NSX Manager configuration via UI/API.
- Examine logs for unauthorized access attempts.
- Interview administrators about change management processes.
- Validate integration with identity providers.
- Use vulnerability scanners on NSX Manager IPs.
- Check backup logs and recovery test records.
2. Control Plane Audit
The Control Plane handles the dissemination of logical network state (e.g., routes, firewall rules, switching tables) to data plane components (hypervisors, gateways). In NSX-T, this is managed by the Controller Cluster.
Audit Topics:
- Controller Cluster Health & High Availability
- Are all controller nodes operational and synchronized?
- Is the cluster configured for HA (minimum 3 nodes)?
- Are heartbeat and quorum mechanisms functioning?
- Secure Communication
- Are control plane communications encrypted (TLS)?
- Are certificates valid and not self-signed in production?
- Are mutual TLS (mTLS) used between controllers and transport nodes?
- Policy Distribution & Consistency
- Are distributed firewall rules and routing policies propagated consistently?
- Are there delays or failures in policy distribution?
- Are stale or orphaned policies removed?
- Access Control to Control Plane
- Are only authorized transport nodes allowed to join the control plane?
- Are control plane interfaces on isolated VLANs or segments?
- Monitoring & Alerts
- Are control plane health metrics (CPU, memory, sync status) monitored?
- Are alerts configured for node failures or partitioning?
Audit Approach:
- Use CLI (
get cluster status,get control-clusterin NSX-T) to validate cluster state. - Review TLS certificates and cipher suites.
- Analyze logs for control plane sync errors.
- Validate firewall rules protecting control plane interfaces.
- Check monitoring dashboards (e.g., vRealize Operations, Grafana) for anomalies.
3. Data Plane Audit
The Data Plane is where actual packet forwarding, filtering, and encapsulation (e.g., Geneve) occur on Transport Nodes (ESXi hosts, KVM, bare metal, NSX Edge).
Audit Topics:
- Transport Node Configuration
- Are transport nodes correctly configured with transport zones, uplinks, and profiles?
- Are host-level firewalls (e.g., ESXi host firewall) properly configured?
- Traffic Encryption & Encapsulation
- Is Geneve traffic encrypted (if required via IPSec or MACsec)?
- Are VNI-to-logical-switch mappings correct and secure?
- Distributed Firewall (DFW)
- Are DFW rules following least privilege and least access principles?
- Are rules properly scoped (e.g., to segments, tags)?
- Are there shadowed or redundant rules?
- East-West & North-South Security
- Are micro-segmentation policies effectively isolating workloads?
- Are gateway firewalls (Tier-0/Tier-1) enforcing perimeter policies?
- Performance & Resource Utilization
- Are transport nodes experiencing high CPU/memory due to DFW or routing?
- Are packet drops or latency issues observed?
- Traffic Visibility & Inspection
- Are packet captures or flow logs (e.g., IPFIX, SPAN) enabled for critical segments?
- Is traffic inspection integrated with IDS/IPS or SIEM?
Audit Approach:
- Use
esxcli network ip interface listandnsxclion hosts to verify configuration. - Perform packet captures to validate encapsulation and policy enforcement.
- Export and analyze DFW rule sets for compliance and efficiency.
- Review IPFIX/flow logs for anomalous traffic patterns.
- Test connectivity and policy enforcement using tools like
ping,traceroute, orovs-appctl.
Cross-Plane Audit Considerations
| Area | Audit Focus |
|---|---|
| Security | End-to-end encryption, zero-trust posture, defense-in-depth |
| Change Management | All changes tracked, approved, and tested |
| Segregation of Duties | Admin roles separated (e.g., network vs security vs ops) |
| Compliance | Alignment with standards like PCI-DSS, HIPAA, ISO 27001 |
| Resilience | Redundancy, failover testing, DR plans |
| Automation & IaC | Are configurations managed via code (e.g., Terraform, Ansible)? Is drift detected? |
Audit Tools & Techniques
- NSX Native Tools: NSX Intelligence, NSX Dashboard, CLI (
get,showcommands), API Explorer - Logging: vRealize Log Insight, ELK, Splunk
- Monitoring: vRealize Operations, Prometheus/Grafana
- Vulnerability Scanners: Nessus, Qualys (targeting NSX Manager, Edges)
- Configuration Analysis: Scripts to export and analyze policies (e.g., firewall rules, routes)
- Penetration Testing: Simulate lateral movement to test micro-segmentation
Summary: Audit Approach by Plane
| Plane | Key Focus | Tools / Method |
|---|---|---|
| Management | Access, config, logging, patching | UI/API review, log analysis, vulnerability scans |
| Control | Cluster health, secure comms, policy sync | CLI checks, TLS inspection, sync logs |
| Data | Policy enforcement, traffic flow, performance | Packet capture, rule analysis, flow logs |
Conclusion
A thorough NSX audit requires a layered approach across all three planes. It should combine technical validation, process review, and compliance checks. The goal is to ensure that NSX is securely configured, resilient, and aligned with organizational security policies and regulatory requirements.
Regular audits should be integrated into the organization’s broader cloud and network security posture management framework.