What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on CM-7 Least Functionality?

SSP CM-7 statement listing the essential functions, ports, protocols and services permitted per component and how others are disabled; Ports, protocols and services table from the SSP matched to host or security group scan output; Software inventory generated from authoritative discovery tooling; Emergency change records with retroactive approvals; Configuration management policy and change control procedure; Approved baseline configurations for each platform family.

What is the most common gap auditors find on CM-7?

Emergency changes bypass CAB and lack retrospective review

FedRAMP High (NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 baseline) · CM - Configuration Management

`CM-7` Least Functionality

Configure system to provide only essential capabilities; prohibit unnecessary functions, services, ports, protocols.

Source: FedRAMP High (NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 baseline), CM-7. 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 FedRAMP High (NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 baseline) in the compliance library.

A FedRAMP baseline is a subset of NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, enhancements included.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

easy

to go live

Cloud console / configuration management

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

Ports, protocols and services table from the SSP matched to host or security group scan output · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling
Software inventory generated from authoritative discovery tooling · Cloud console / configuration management
Emergency change records with retroactive approvals · Cloud console / configuration management
Approved baseline configurations for each platform family · Cloud console / configuration management

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

none for this control

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

SSP CM-7 statement listing the essential functions, ports, protocols and services permitted per component and how others are disabled · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Configuration management policy and change control procedure · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Automate the pull from your Cloud console / configuration management. Configuration snapshots and change history from the cloud console or IaC repository, diffed against the baseline.

Common gaps auditors find

Emergency changes bypass CAB and lack retrospective review
Unauthorised software present on endpoints not flagged by tooling
Hardening benchmarks applied at build but not re evaluated annually

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

CM-6(2) Respond to Unauthorized Changes · CM-7(1) Periodic Review