Perform a power action on a VM. Valid actions are 'on', 'off', 'shutdown', 'suspend', 'pause', 'unpause'.
AI agents invoke power_vm to trigger actions in VMware Fusion MCP Server. What it does depends on the arguments the agent supplies, and its effects often reach beyond the immediate call — builds kicked off, notifications sent, workflows started.
This tool triggers external power operations on virtual machines. Actions like 'off' and 'shutdown' can disrupt running workloads, while 'suspend' and 'pause' halt execution. These are not purely destructive (no data deletion) but execute external state-changing operations on infrastructure with potentially significant blast radius if misused (e.g., powering off a production VM).
From the tool's definition 'Perform a power action on a VM. Valid actions are on, off, shutdown, suspend, pause, unpause'
Documented attack patterns abuse exactly the kind of access power_vm gives an agent:
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway — it sits between your AI agents and VMware Fusion MCP Server, and nothing reaches the server without passing your rules. This is the rule we recommend for power_vm:
{
"version": "1",
"default": "deny",
"tools": {
"power_vm": {
"limits": [
{
"counter": "power_vm_rate",
"window": "minute",
"max": 10,
"scope": "grant"
}
]
}
}
}power_vm stays usable, but rate-capped — a runaway agent can't fire it dozens of times a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
Free to start. No card required.
Perform a power action on a VM. Valid actions are 'on', 'off', 'shutdown', 'suspend', 'pause', 'unpause'. It is categorised as a Execute tool in the VMware Fusion MCP Server MCP Server, which means it can trigger actions or run processes. Use rate limits and argument validation.
Register the VMware Fusion MCP Server MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for power_vm: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches VMware Fusion MCP Server. Nothing to install.
power_vm is a Execute tool with high risk. Execute tools should be rate-limited and have argument validation enabled.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the power_vm rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for power_vm. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
power_vm is provided by the VMware Fusion MCP Server MCP server (yeahdongcn/vmware-fusion-mcp-server). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
Start from VMware Fusion MCP Server, add the rest of your stack, and see everything your agents can call. Then put policy on all of it.
Free to start. No card required.
4 VMware Fusion MCP Server tools catalogued and risk-classified — across an index of 43,000+ MCP servers.