Broadcom releases VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1 with enhanced security and AI-era defenses

Aug 6, 2026

Broadcom announced major security, performance, and automation updates for VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1, focusing on VMware vDefend and VMware Avi Load Balancer. The releases introduce AI-powered assistants, native API protection for Kubernetes and AI workloads, and on-premises malware sandboxing with full air-gapped support. Internal testing shows massive performance gains, including Distributed Firewall throughput up to 75 Gbps on 100G NIC servers and a 33% reduction in physical hardware requirements via a new two-node deployment model.

VCF 9.1 security enhancements

▪The VMware vDefend Security Services Platform 5.2 introduces a leaner two-node deployment model that reduces physical hardware requirements by up to 33%.
▪Broadcom announced major security, performance, and automation updates for VMware Cloud Foundation 9.1, including updates to VMware vDefend and VMware Avi Load Balancer.

AI-era threat defenses

▪Broadcom embedded AI assistants into both VMware vDefend and VMware Avi Load Balancer to provide configuration information, troubleshooting help, and remediation guidance.
▪The updated vDefend and Avi Conversion Tool 3.0 automates the translation of rules from legacy, agent-based firewalls into native vDefend Distributed Firewall policies.

Distributed firewall throughput gains

▪Broadcom reported that VMware vDefend Distributed Firewall scale-out performance can reach up to 75 Tbps per VMware Cloud Foundation instance.
▪Based on July 2026 internal testing, Broadcom claims VMware vDefend Distributed Firewall throughput can reach up to 22 Gbps on 25G NIC servers and up to 75 Gbps on 100G NIC servers.

ATP guided deployment workflow

▪The VMware vDefend 1-2-3 workflow assesses threat posture, applies policies to shared infrastructure like Active Directory and DNS, and extends them across development, production, and DMZ zones.
▪The new VMware vDefend 1-2-3 workflow provides a three-stage guided process to accelerate Advanced Threat Prevention deployment from months to a few weeks.

Air-gapped environment support

▪Broadcom introduced on-premises malware sandboxing to VMware vDefend, enabling enterprises to analyze static and dynamic files locally without sending data to a public cloud.
▪Broadcom added full air-gapped support to VMware vDefend, allowing highly sensitive environments to download threat-intelligence updates separately and transfer them offline.

Native API protection

▪VMware Avi Load Balancer introduced native API protection for virtual machines, vSphere Kubernetes Services, and AI workloads.
▪VMware Avi Load Balancer combines Web Application Firewall and API Protection to identify exposed interfaces and reduce reliance on separate security products.