CIS Control 16.7: Use Standard Hardening Configuration Templates for Application Infrastructure
Hardening configuration templates eliminate manual security oversights across your application infrastructure. CIS 16.7 requires standardized, industry-recommended configurations for servers, databases, and cloud components—reducing attack surface and ensuring consistent security baselines across hybrid environments.
What this means
This control mandates adoption of pre-built, hardened configuration templates for all application infrastructure components including underlying servers, databases, web servers, cloud containers, PaaS services, and SaaS applications. Rather than building security configurations from scratch, organizations must use vetted, standards-based templates that remove unnecessary services, enforce strong defaults, and apply security best practices consistently across infrastructure.
How to comply
- 1.Identify all application infrastructure components: servers, databases, web servers, container platforms, and cloud services in your environment
- 2.Obtain or develop standard hardening templates from CIS Benchmarks, vendor documentation, or industry sources for each component type
- 3.Document your approved hardening configuration baseline for each infrastructure category
- 4.Implement templates across all new deployments and document deviations from baseline with business justification
- 5.Establish automated configuration management to enforce and monitor adherence to hardening templates
- 6.Conduct quarterly audits to ensure running systems match approved hardened configurations
- 7.Update templates when security patches or CIS Benchmarks change
Evidence auditors look for
- CIS Benchmarks documentation for your specific OS, database, or application versions
- Inventory of approved hardening configuration templates per infrastructure component type
- Configuration management system snapshots showing template deployment across servers and services
- Deviation documentation with business approval for any configurations departing from standards
- Audit logs from automated tools validating infrastructure compliance with hardening templates
- Change management records showing template updates in response to security advisories
- Documentation of template application process during infrastructure provisioning
Frequently asked questions
When will FAQs be available?
The FAQ for this control is currently being prepared.
GRCWatch automatically maps your infrastructure configurations against CIS 16.7 hardening standards, identifies deviations in real-time, and generates evidence for auditors—eliminating manual compliance tracking across servers, databases, and cloud services.
See how GRCWatch handles this control automatically
Start free trial