12.3 Securely Manage Network Infrastructure
Manage network infrastructure securely, for example by holding device configuration as code under version control and administering over secure protocols such as SSH and HTTPS. Implementation Groups: IG2 and IG3 (not in the IG1 baseline; applies from IG2 upward). Asset type: Network. Security function: Protect.
Source: CIS Controls v8.1, 12.3. 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 CIS Controls v8.1 in the compliance library.
Each safeguard shows its Implementation Groups. IG1 is the essential baseline for every enterprise, IG2 adds to it, IG3 is all 153. Version 8.1 adds the Govern security function and asks for more processes to be documented; numbering is unchanged from v8.
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
- Network configuration repository with change history · Source control / CI pipeline
- Device settings showing SSH and HTTPS management only · Endpoint management (MDM / EDR)
periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review
- Change approval records · Ticketing / ITSM
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
none for this control
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- Telnet or HTTP management still enabled
- Changes made directly on devices with no record
- Shared admin credentials
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 sheet12.2 Establish and Maintain a Secure Network Architecture · 12.4 Establish and Maintain Architecture Diagram(s)