EvidenceSheet
ACSC Essential Eight Maturity Model (November 2023) · Patch operating systems

PATCHOS-ISM-1696 Patches, updates or other vendor mitigations for vulnerabilities in operating systems of workstations…

Patches, updates or other vendor mitigations for vulnerabilities in operating systems of workstations, non-internet-facing servers and non-internet-facing network devices are applied within 48 hours of release when vulnerabilities are assessed as critical by vendors or when working exploits exist. Required at Maturity Level Three of the Patch operating systems mitigation strategy (Appendix C); ISM control ISM-1696 in ASD's Essential Eight to ISM mapping (December 2023).

Source: ACSC Essential Eight Maturity Model (November 2023), PATCHOS-ISM-1696. 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 ACSC Essential Eight Maturity Model (November 2023) in the compliance library.

Each row is an ISM control the maturity model requires, with the maturity levels named in its text. Pick your target maturity level and use the rows for it.

2
artefacts
1
held by a system
1
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

  • Records of critical or exploited internal operating system vulnerabilities patched within 48 hours · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Emergency change approvals for internal servers and workstations · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

none for this control

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.

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PATCHOS-ISM-1695 Patches, updates or other vendor mitigations for vulnerabilities in operating systems of workstations… · PATCHOS-ISM-1697 Patches, updates or other vendor mitigations for vulnerabilities in drivers are applied within one month of…