The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Hybrid Cloud Team announces the following CMS Gold Image (GI) updates for August 2025:
August 2025 GI Updates
Please Use the GIs Available on August 15, 2025
- There are several major improvements to all CMS GIs in the August 2025 monthly release.
Final Amazon Linux 2023 (AL2023) Transition Plans Are Under Review
- The final CMS Amazon Linux 2 (AL2) GI was released on June 13, 2025. All AL2 customers without a previously approved exception should have transitioned to AL2023 by July 1, 2025.
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Final updates to document your team's transition to AL2023 were due July 23, 2025. We are reviewing the plans and will reach out directly with any concerns.
Instance Metadata Service Version 2 (IMDSv2) Required by Default Starting in September
- Starting in September 2025, all Amazon Web Services (AWS) GIs will be set to require IMDSv2 by default to further increase the CMS security posture.
- Instance Metadata Service is an endpoint (169.254.169.254) that allows instances to retrieve information about themselves. IMDSv2 adds additional protections over IMDSv1.
- For more details about IMDSv2, including how to check if you are using IMDSv1, refer to this AWS Security Blog article.
Please note: Instances running Splunk Universal Forwarder versions before version 9.4.2 will report the usage of IMDSv1. We recommended that you upgrade your Splunk versions if you are unsure if your application is using IMDSv1 in other ways.
Gold Image Accessibility
If your team wants to request a new CMS GI, please open a Hybrid Cloud Support Ticket and contact your assigned Hosting Coordinator.
For more information about CMS GIs, please review the available Gold Image documentation.
Questions or Concerns
For questions or concerns, please contact your assigned Hosting Coordinator/Technical Advisor or submit a Hybrid Cloud support ticket.
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