What is the CIS hardening checklist for Windows Server 2022?

More context

Each recommendation in the benchmark includes the required setting value, the rationale, the operational impact, and audit and remediation procedures, so the same document serves as both the hardening guide and the audit reference. Most organizations apply Level 1 across all Windows Server 2022 instances and reserve Level 2 for servers handling regulated or sensitive data.

Because the checklist runs to hundreds of individual settings per profile, verifying it by hand does not scale. CISGuard scans Windows Server against the CIS benchmark continuously and maps each result to NIST 800-53, ISO 27001, and SOC 2 so one hardening effort produces evidence for every framework in scope.