EvidenceSheet
PCI DSS v4.0.1 · Req 2: Secure Configurations

2.2.1 System configuration standards maintained

Configuration standards must be developed, implemented and maintained so that they: (a) cover every system component; (b) address all known security vulnerabilities; (c) are consistent with vendor hardening recommendations or hardening standards the industry accepts; (d) are revised whenever new vulnerability issues come to light, following Requirement 6.3.1; and (e) are used whenever new systems are set up, and are confirmed to be in place before, or right after, a component goes live in a production environment. Applicability: no special notes; applies to every assessed entity. Objective under the customized approach: every system component is set up securely and consistently consistent with vendor guidance or hardening standards the industry accepts.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 2.2.1. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open PCI DSS v4.0.1 in the compliance library.

Version 4.0.1 is the active version; 4.0 has been retired. Appendix A1 applies only to multi-tenant service providers, A2 only to card-present POS POI terminals that still use SSL or early TLS, and A3 only when a payment brand or acquirer requires it. Which requirements apply to you follows your validation type.

4
artefacts
3
held by a system
0
at each review
easy
to go live
Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling
where the evidence lives
teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review. To go live: easy when half or more of the artefacts are already held by a system, moderate from a quarter to a half, hard below a quarter.

These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.

system holds itEvidence a system already holds

  • Change history of standards showing updates triggered by newly identified vulnerabilities · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling
  • Build checklists or pipeline logs showing standards applied to new systems · SIEM / log platform
  • Configuration compliance scan reports taken at or shortly after production deployment · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

none for this control

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Configuration standards for each component type (operating systems, databases, network devices, containers, cloud services) referencing CIS or vendor baselines · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Automate the pull from your Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling. Scan schedule, findings and remediation age straight from the scanner; patch compliance from the patch console.

Common gaps auditors find

Do this for your whole sheet

Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.

Build my evidence sheet

2.1.2 Requirement 2 roles and responsibilities assigned · 2.2.2 Vendor default accounts managed