Platforms / Security resources

MITRE ATT&CK

Enterprise v20 / 15 tactics / 227 techniques / 479 sub-techniques

Execution / T1059.012

Hypervisor CLI

Sub-technique / Enterprise ATT&CK

Official MITRE entry

Adversaries may abuse hypervisor command line interpreters (CLIs) to execute malicious commands. Hypervisor CLIs typically enable a wide variety of functionality for managing both the hypervisor itself and the guest virtual machines it hosts.

For example, on ESXi systems, tools such as esxcli and vim-cmd allow administrators to configure firewall rules and log forwarding on the hypervisor, list virtual machines, start and stop virtual machines, and more.(Citation: Broadcom ESXCLI Reference)(Citation: Crowdstrike Hypervisor Jackpotting Pt 2 2021)(Citation: LOLESXi) Adversaries may be able to leverage these tools in order to support further actions, such as File and Directory Discovery or Data Encrypted for Impact.

Source references

Source: MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v20, retrieved 2026-10-31. MITRE ATT&CK is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.