Summary

Tenable is updating the VMware ESX / ESXi Unsupported Version Detection plugin (56997) to track the vendor's End of General Support (EoGS) date rather than the End of Technical Guidance (EoTG) date.

Change

Before this update, Plugin 56997 determined unsupported status for VMware vSphere/ESXi 7.0 using the vendor's End of Technical Guidance (EoTG) date of April 2, 2027. EoTG marks the point at which the vendor's support becomes best-effort only; it does not reflect when the vendor actually stops shipping security patches.

After this update, Plugin 56997 will use the vendor's End of General Support (EoGS) date instead, which is when the vendor discontinues security patches and critical bug fixes. This date for VMware vSphere/ESXi 7.0 EoGS is October 2, 2025. 

Impact

Customers running VMware vSphere/ESXi 7.0 outside of the EoGS support window will now see a correct “unsupported” finding from Plugin 56997. This will introduce new critical findings into scan results for customers who have the unsupported version. Hosts that had previously been identified as unsupported should see no change to those findings. 

Detection plugins

56997 - VMware ESX / ESXi Unsupported Version Detection

Target Release Date

November 2, 2026