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CIS Visual Studio Code
GPO Benchmark
v1.0.0 - 09-25-2025
Terms of Use
Please see the below link for our current terms of use:
https://www.cisecurity.org/cis-securesuite/cis-securesuite-membership-terms-of-use/
For information on referencing and/or citing CIS Benchmarks in 3rd party documentation
(including using portions of Benchmark Recommendations) please contact CIS Legal
([email protected]) and request guidance on copyright usage.
NOTE: It is NEVER acceptable to host a CIS Benchmark in ANY format (PDF, etc.)
on a 3rd party (non-CIS owned) site.
Page 1
Table of Contents
Terms of Use ................................................................................................................. 1
Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... 2
Overview ........................................................................................................................ 4
Important Usage Information ................................................................................................ 4
Key Stakeholders ................................................................................................................................... 4
Apply the Correct Version of a Benchmark ........................................................................................ 5
Exceptions .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Remediation ........................................................................................................................................... 6
Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Target Technology Details .................................................................................................... 7
Intended Audience................................................................................................................. 7
Consensus Guidance ............................................................................................................ 8
Typographical Conventions .................................................................................................. 9
Recommendation Definitions ..................................................................................... 10
Title ........................................................................................................................................10
Assessment Status...............................................................................................................10
Automated ............................................................................................................................................ 10
Manual ................................................................................................................................................... 10
Profile ....................................................................................................................................10
Description ............................................................................................................................10
Rationale Statement .............................................................................................................10
Impact Statement ..................................................................................................................11
Audit Procedure ....................................................................................................................11
Remediation Procedure........................................................................................................11
Default Value .........................................................................................................................11
References ............................................................................................................................11
CIS Critical Security Controls® (CIS Controls®) ..................................................................11
Additional Information..........................................................................................................11
Profile Definitions .................................................................................................................12
Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................13
Recommendations ...................................................................................................... 14
1 Visual Studio Code ............................................................................................................14
1.1 Chat ................................................................................................................................................. 15
1.1.1 (L2) Ensure 'ChatMCP' is set to 'Disabled' (Automated) ................................................. 16
1.1.2 (L1) Ensure 'ChatToolsAutoApprove' is set to 'Disabled' (Automated) ........................... 18
1.2 Extensions ...................................................................................................................................... 20
Page 2
1.2.1 (L2) Ensure 'AllowedExtensions' is configured (Manual)................................................. 21
1.3 Telemetry ........................................................................................................................................ 23
1.3.1 (L2) Ensure 'EnableFeedback' is set to 'Disabled' (Automated) ...................................... 24
1.3.2 (L1) Ensure 'TelemetryLevel' is set to 'Enabled: off' (Automated) ................................... 26
1.4 Update ............................................................................................................................................. 28
1.4.1 (L1) Ensure 'UpdateMode' is set to 'Enabled: Enable Automatic Update Checks. Code
will check for updates automatically and periodically.' (Automated) ......................................... 29
Appendix: Summary Table ......................................................................................... 31
Appendix: Change History ......................................................................................... 32
Page 3
Overview
All CIS Benchmarks™ (Benchmarks) focus on technical configuration settings used to
maintain and/or increase the security of the addressed technology, and they should be
used in conjunction with other essential cyber hygiene tasks like:
• Monitoring the base operating system and applications for vulnerabilities and
quickly updating with the latest security patches.
• End-point protection (Antivirus software, Endpoint Detection and Response
(EDR), etc.).
• Logging and monitoring user and system activity.
In the end, the Benchmarks are designed to be a key component of a comprehensive
cybersecurity program.
Important Usage Information
All Benchmarks are available free for non-commercial use from the CIS Website. They
can be used to manually assess and remediate systems and applications. In lieu of
manual assessment and remediation, there are several tools available to assist with
assessment:
• CIS Configuration Assessment Tool (CIS-CAT® Pro Assessor)
• CIS Benchmarks™ Certified 3rd Party Tooling
These tools make the hardening process much more scalable for large numbers of
systems and applications.
NOTE: Some tooling focuses only on the Benchmark Recommendations that can
be fully automated (skipping ones marked Manual). It is important that ALL
Recommendations (Automated and Manual) be addressed since all are
important for properly securing systems and are typically in scope for
audits.
Key Stakeholders
Cybersecurity is a collaborative effort, and cross functional cooperation is imperative
within an organization to discuss, test, and deploy Benchmarks in an effective and
efficient way. The Benchmarks are developed to be best practice configuration
guidelines applicable to a wide range of use cases. In some organizations, exceptions
to specific Recommendations will be needed, and this team should work to prioritize the
problematic Recommendations based on several factors like risk, time, cost, and labor.
These exceptions should be properly categorized and documented for auditing
purposes.
Page 4
Apply the Correct Version of a Benchmark
Benchmarks are developed and tested for a specific set of products and versions and
applying an incorrect Benchmark to a system can cause the resulting pass/fail score to
be incorrect. This is due to the assessment of settings that do not apply to the target
systems. To assure the correct Benchmark is being assessed:
• Deploy the Benchmark applicable to the way settings are managed in the
environment: An example of this is the Microsoft Windows family of
Benchmarks, which have separate Benchmarks for Group Policy, Intune, and
Stand-alone systems based upon how system management is deployed.
Applying the wrong Benchmark in this case will give invalid results.
• Use the most recent version of a Benchmark: This is true for all Benchmarks,
but especially true for cloud technologies. Cloud technologies change frequently
and using an older version of a Benchmark may have invalid methods for
auditing and remediation.
Exceptions
The guidance items in the Benchmarks are called recommendations and not
requirements, and exceptions to some of them are expected and acceptable. The
Benchmarks strive to be a secure baseline, or starting point, for a specific technology,
with known issues identified during Benchmark development are documented in the
Impact section of each Recommendation. In addition, organizational, system specific
requirements, or local site policy may require changes as well, or an exception to a
Recommendation or group of Recommendations (e.g. A Benchmark could Recommend
that a Web server not be installed on the system, but if a system's primary purpose is to
function as a Webserver, there should be a documented exception to this
Recommendation for that specific server).
In the end, exceptions to some Benchmark Recommendations are common and
acceptable, and should be handled as follows:
• The reasons for the exception should be reviewed cross-functionally and be well
documented for audit purposes.
• A plan should be developed for mitigating, or eliminating, the exception in the
future, if applicable.
• If the organization decides to accept the risk of this exception (not work toward
mitigation or elimination), this should be documented for audit purposes.
It is the responsibility of the organization to determine their overall security policy, and
which settings are applicable to their unique needs based on the overall risk profile for
the organization.
Page 5
Remediation
CIS has developed Build Kits for many technologies to assist in the automation of
hardening systems. Build Kits are designed to correspond to Benchmark's
“Remediation” section, which provides the manual remediation steps necessary to make
that Recommendation compliant to the Benchmark.
When remediating systems (changing configuration settings on
deployed systems as per the Benchmark's Recommendations),
please approach this with caution and test thoroughly.
The following is a reasonable remediation approach to follow:
• CIS Build Kits, or internally developed remediation methods should never be
applied to production systems without proper testing.
• Proper testing consists of the following:
o Understand the configuration (including installed applications) of the targeted
systems. Various parts of the organization may need different configurations
(e.g., software developers vs standard office workers).
o Read the Impact section of the given Recommendation to help determine if
there might be an issue with the targeted systems.
o Test the configuration changes with representative lab system(s). If issues
arise during testing, they can be resolved prior to deploying to any production
systems.
o When testing is complete, initially deploy to a small sub-set of production
systems and monitor closely for issues. If there are issues, they can be
resolved prior to deploying more broadly.
o When the initial deployment above is completes successfully, iteratively
deploy to additional systems and monitor closely for issues. Repeat this
process until the full deployment is complete.
Summary
Using the Benchmarks Certified tools, working as a team with key stakeholders, being
selective with exceptions, and being careful with remediation deployment, it is possible
to harden large numbers of deployed systems in a cost effective, efficient, and safe
manner.
NOTE: As previously stated, the PDF versions of the CIS Benchmarks™ are
available for free, non-commercial use on the CIS Website. All other formats
of the CIS Benchmarks™ (MS Word, Excel, and Build Kits) are available for
CIS SecureSuite® members.
CIS-CAT® Pro is also available to CIS SecureSuite® members.
Page 6
Target Technology Details
This document provides prescriptive guidance for establishing a secure configuration
posture for Visual Studio Code. This guide was tested against VS Code version 1.104
on a Windows Server 2025 operating system. To obtain the latest version of this guide,
please visit http://benchmarks.cisecurity.org. If you have questions, comments, or have
identified ways to improve this guide, please write us at [email protected].
Intended Audience
This benchmark is intended for system and application administrators, security
specialists, auditors, help desk, and platform deployment personnel who plan to
develop, deploy, assess, or secure solutions that incorporate Visual Studio Code via
Group Policy Objects (GPOs).
Page 7
Consensus Guidance
This CIS Benchmark™ was created using a consensus review process comprised of a
global community of subject matter experts. The process combines real world
experience with data-based information to create technology specific guidance to assist
users to secure their environments. Consensus participants provide perspective from a
diverse set of backgrounds including consulting, software development, audit and
compliance, security research, operations, government, and legal.
Each CIS Benchmark undergoes two phases of consensus review. The first phase
occurs during initial Benchmark development. During this phase, subject matter experts
convene to discuss, create, and test working drafts of the Benchmark. This discussion
occurs until consensus has been reached on Benchmark recommendations. The
second phase begins after the Benchmark has been published. During this phase, all
feedback provided by the Internet community is reviewed by the consensus team for
incorporation in the Benchmark. If you are interested in participating in the consensus
process, please visit https://workbench.cisecurity.org/.
Page 8
Typographical Conventions
The following typographical conventions are used throughout this guide:
Convention Meaning
Used for blocks of code, command, and
Stylized Monospace font script examples. Text should be interpreted
exactly as presented.
Used for inline code, commands, UI/Menu
Monospace font selections or examples. Text should be
interpreted exactly as presented.
Text set in angle brackets denote a variable
<Monospace font in brackets>
requiring substitution for a real value.
Used to reference other relevant settings,
CIS Benchmarks and/or Benchmark
Italic font
Communities. Also, used to denote the title
of a book, article, or other publication.
Additional information or caveats things like
Notes, Warnings, or Cautions (usually just
Bold font
the word itself and the rest of the text
normal).
Page 9
Recommendation Definitions
The following defines the various components included in a CIS recommendation as
applicable. If any of the components are not applicable it will be noted, or the
component will not be included in the recommendation.
Title
Concise description for the recommendation's intended configuration.
Assessment Status
An assessment status is included for every recommendation. The assessment status
indicates whether the given recommendation can be automated or requires manual
steps to implement. Both statuses are equally important and are determined and
supported as defined below:
Automated
Represents recommendations for which assessment of a technical control can be fully
automated and validated to a pass/fail state. Recommendations will include the
necessary information to implement automation.
Manual
Represents recommendations for which assessment of a technical control cannot be
fully automated and requires all or some manual steps to validate that the configured
state is set as expected. The expected state can vary depending on the environment.
Profile
A collection of recommendations for securing a technology or a supporting platform.
Most benchmarks include at least a Level 1 and Level 2 Profile. Level 2 extends Level 1
recommendations and is not a standalone profile. The Profile Definitions section in the
benchmark provides the definitions as they pertain to the recommendations included for
the technology.
Description
Detailed information pertaining to the setting with which the recommendation is
concerned. In some cases, the description will include the recommended value.
Rationale Statement
Detailed reasoning for the recommendation to provide the user a clear and concise
understanding on the importance of the recommendation.
Page 10
Impact Statement
Any security, functionality, or operational consequences that can result from following
the recommendation.
Audit Procedure
Systematic instructions for determining if the target system complies with the
recommendation.
Remediation Procedure
Systematic instructions for applying recommendations to the target system to bring it
into compliance according to the recommendation.
Default Value
Default value for the given setting in this recommendation, if known. If not known, either
not configured or not defined will be applied.
References
Additional documentation relative to the recommendation.
CIS Critical Security Controls® (CIS Controls®)
The mapping between a recommendation and the CIS Controls is organized by CIS
Controls version, Safeguard, and Implementation Group (IG). The Benchmark in its
entirety addresses the CIS Controls safeguards of (v7) “5.1 - Establish Secure
Configurations” and (v8) '4.1 - Establish and Maintain a Secure Configuration Process”
so individual recommendations will not be mapped to these safeguards.
Additional Information
Supplementary information that does not correspond to any other field but may be
useful to the user.
Page 11
Profile Definitions
The following configuration profiles are defined by this Benchmark:
• Level 1
Items in this profile intend to:
o be the starting baseline for most organizations;
o be practical and prudent;
o provide a clear security benefit; and
o not inhibit the utility of the technology beyond acceptable means.
• Level 2
This profile extends the "Level 1" profile. Items in this profile exhibit one or more
of the following characteristics:
o are intended for environments or use cases where security is more critical
than manageability and usability;
o may negatively inhibit the utility or performance of the technology; and
o limit the ability of remote management/access.
Page 12
Acknowledgements
This Benchmark exemplifies the great things a community of users, vendors, and
subject matter experts can accomplish through consensus collaboration. The CIS
community thanks the entire consensus team with special recognition to the following
individuals who contributed greatly to the creation of this guide:
Author
Kyle Bavis
Editor
Matthew Woods
Jennifer Jarose
Page 13
Recommendations
1 Visual Studio Code
Page 14
1.1 Chat
This section contains recommendations for chat (AI) settings.
Page 15
1.1.1 (L2) Ensure 'ChatMCP' is set to 'Disabled' (Automated)
Profile Applicability:
• Level 2
Description:
This policy setting controls integration with Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.
The recommended state for this setting is: Disabled.
Rationale:
Integration with third-party MCP servers may result in unintended disclosure of
information to the party running the server.
Impact:
Users will not be able to use MCP server integrations.
Audit:
Navigate to the UI Path articulated in the Remediation section and confirm it is set as
prescribed. This group policy setting is backed by the following registry location with a
REG_DWORD value of 0.
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\VSCode:ChatMCP
Remediation:
To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to
Disabled:
Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Visual Studio
Code\Chat\ChatMCP
Note: This Group Policy path may not exist by default. It is provided by the Group Policy
template VScode.admx, which is available in the VS Code installation directory under
the policies folder.
Default Value:
Enabled
References:
1. https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/enterprise#_centrally-manage-vs-code-
settings
Page 16
CIS Controls:
Controls Version Control IG 1 IG 2 IG 3
0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped
v8
Explicitly Not Mapped
0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped
v7
Explicitly Not Mapped
Page 17
1.1.2 (L1) Ensure 'ChatToolsAutoApprove' is set to 'Disabled'
(Automated)
Profile Applicability:
• Level 1
Description:
This policy setting controls auto-approval for agent mode chat tools.
The recommended state for this setting is: Disabled.
Rationale:
Automatic activation of agent mode tools may result in inadvertent disclosure of
sensitive data to third-party servers backing the chat tool or unexpected modification to
project files.
Impact:
Users will need to manually approve agent mode before it can be used.
Audit:
Navigate to the UI Path articulated in the Remediation section and confirm it is set as
prescribed. This group policy setting is backed by the following registry location with a
REG_DWORD value of 0.
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\VSCode:ChatToolsAutoApprove
Remediation:
To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to
Disabled:
Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Visual Studio
Code\Chat\ChatToolsAutoApprove
Note: This Group Policy path may not exist by default. It is provided by the Group Policy
template VScode.admx, which is available in the VS Code installation directory under
the policies folder.
References:
1. https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/enterprise#_centrally-manage-vs-code-
settings
Page 18
CIS Controls:
Controls Version Control IG 1 IG 2 IG 3
0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped
v8
Explicitly Not Mapped
0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped
v7
Explicitly Not Mapped
Page 19
1.2 Extensions
This section contains recommendations for extension settings.
Page 20
1.2.1 (L2) Ensure 'AllowedExtensions' is configured (Manual)
Profile Applicability:
• Level 2
Description:
This policy setting configures a list of extension selectors that determine which
extensions are allowed or blocked.
The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled with a list of allowed extensions.
Rationale:
Allowing users to install any extension may result in unintended information disclosure
to third parties, or the installation of malware.
Impact:
IT administrators will need to maintain the list of allow-listed extensions. Depending on
individual end-user needs, it may not be practical to allow specific extensions. Allowing
by publisher may be more practical.
Audit:
Navigate to the UI Path articulated in the Remediation section and confirm it is set as
prescribed. This group policy setting is backed by the following registry location with a
REG_SZ value containing a JSON string.
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\VSCode:AllowedExtensions
Remediation:
To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to
Enabled along with a JSON string defining the approved extensions:
Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Visual Studio
Code\Extensions\AllowedExtensions
Note: This Group Policy path may not exist by default. It is provided by the Group Policy
template VScode.admx, which is available in the VS Code installation directory under
the policies folder.
Default Value:
Null; a user may install any extension.
References:
1. https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/enterprise#_configure-allowed-
extensions
Page 21
CIS Controls:
Controls Version Control IG 1 IG 2 IG 3
0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped
v8
Explicitly Not Mapped
0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped
v7
Explicitly Not Mapped
Page 22
1.3 Telemetry
This section contains recommendations for telemetry settings.
Page 23
1.3.1 (L2) Ensure 'EnableFeedback' is set to 'Disabled'
(Automated)
Profile Applicability:
• Level 2
Description:
This policy setting controls feedback mechanisms, such as the issue reporter and
surveys.
The recommended state for this setting is: Disabled.
Rationale:
The VS Code issue reporter can be configured to submit context such as basic system
configuration and application settings. This may inadvertently disclose information that
some organizations consider confidential.
Impact:
Users will not be able to use in-application feedback tools.
Audit:
Navigate to the UI Path articulated in the Remediation section and confirm it is set as
prescribed. This group policy setting is backed by the following registry location with a
REG_DWORD value of 0.
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\VSCode:EnableFeedback
Remediation:
To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to
Disabled:
Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Visual Studio
Code\Telemetry\EnableFeedback
Note: This Group Policy path may not exist by default. It is provided by the Group Policy
template VScode.admx, which is available in the VS Code installation directory under
the policies folder.
Default Value:
Enabled
Page 24
References:
1. https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/enterprise#_centrally-manage-vs-code-
settings
CIS Controls:
Controls Version Control IG 1 IG 2 IG 3
0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped
v8
Explicitly Not Mapped
0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped
v7
Explicitly Not Mapped
Page 25
1.3.2 (L1) Ensure 'TelemetryLevel' is set to 'Enabled: off'
(Automated)
Profile Applicability:
• Level 1
Description:
This policy setting controls telemetry for VS Code and extensions.
The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled: off.
Rationale:
Enabling this feature sends data to Microsoft and potentially third-party extension
developers, which could lead to sensitive data being exposed.
Impact:
Data will not be shared with Microsoft or extension developers.
Audit:
Navigate to the UI Path articulated in the Remediation section and confirm it is set as
prescribed. This group policy setting is backed by the following registry location with a
REG_SZ value of off.
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\VSCode:TelemetryLevel
Remediation:
To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to
Enabled: off:
Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Visual Studio
Code\Telemetry\TelemetryLevel
Note: This Group Policy path may not exist by default. It is provided by the Group Policy
template VScode.admx, which is available in the VS Code installation directory under
the policies folder.
Default Value:
all (Crash reports, usage data, and error telemetry will be collected)
References:
1. https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/enterprise#_configure-telemetry-level
Page 26
CIS Controls:
Controls Version Control IG 1 IG 2 IG 3
0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped
v8
Explicitly Not Mapped
0.0 Explicitly Not Mapped
v7
Explicitly Not Mapped
Page 27
1.4 Update
This section contains recommendations for update settings.
Page 28
1.4.1 (L1) Ensure 'UpdateMode' is set to 'Enabled: Enable
Automatic Update Checks. Code will check for updates
automatically and periodically.' (Automated)
Profile Applicability:
• Level 1
Description:
This policy setting controls whether VS Code automatically updates when a new version
is released.
The recommended state for this setting is: Enabled: Enable Automatic Update
Checks. Code will check for updates automatically and periodically.
Rationale:
Software needs to be patched regularly to address vulnerabilities.
Impact:
None; this is the default behavior.
Audit:
Navigate to the UI Path articulated in the Remediation section and confirm it is set as
prescribed. This group policy setting is backed by the following registry location with a
REG_SZ value of default.
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\VSCode:UpdateMode
Remediation:
To establish the recommended configuration via GP, set the following UI path to
Enabled: Enable Automatic Update Checks. Code will check for updates
automatically and periodically.:
Computer Configuration\Policies\Administrative Templates\Visual Studio
Code\Update\UpdateMode
Note: This Group Policy path may not exist by default. It is provided by the Group Policy
template VScode.admx, which is available in the VS Code installation directory under
the policies folder.
Default Value:
Default
Page 29
References:
1. https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/enterprise#_configure-automatic-
updates
CIS Controls:
Controls
Control IG 1 IG 2 IG 3
Version
7.3 Perform Automated Operating System Patch
Management
v8 ● ● ●
Perform operating system updates on enterprise assets through automated
patch management on a monthly, or more frequent, basis.
3.4 Deploy Automated Operating System Patch
Management Tools
v7
Deploy automated software update tools in order to ensure that the operating
● ● ●
systems are running the most recent security updates provided by the software
vendor.
Page 30
Appendix: Summary Table
CIS Benchmark Recommendation Set
Correctly
Yes No
1 Visual Studio Code
1.1 Chat
1.1.1 (L2) Ensure 'ChatMCP' is set to 'Disabled' (Automated)  
1.1.2 (L1) Ensure 'ChatToolsAutoApprove' is set to 'Disabled'  
(Automated)
1.2 Extensions
1.2.1 (L2) Ensure 'AllowedExtensions' is configured (Manual)  
1.3 Telemetry
1.3.1 (L2) Ensure 'EnableFeedback' is set to 'Disabled'  
(Automated)
1.3.2 (L1) Ensure 'TelemetryLevel' is set to 'Enabled: off'  
(Automated)
1.4 Update
1.4.1 (L1) Ensure 'UpdateMode' is set to 'Enabled: Enable  
Automatic Update Checks. Code will check for updates
automatically and periodically.' (Automated)
Page 31
Appendix: Change History
Date: 09/25/2025 Version: 1.0.0
Initial Public Release
Page 32