EvidenceSheet
NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 · RA - Risk Assessment

RA-5(4) Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning | Discoverable Information

Determine information about the system that is discoverable and take organization-defined corrective actions.

Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, RA-5(4). 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 NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 in the compliance library.

Base controls and their enhancements. Which apply follows the baseline you are assessed against (for example FedRAMP Moderate or High, or the low, moderate and high baselines of SP 800-53B). Text in square brackets is a parameter your organisation sets.

10
artefacts
2
held by a system
6
at each review
hard
to go live
Policy repository / GRC workspace
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

  • Vulnerability scanning results · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling
  • Incident response records · Policy repository / GRC workspace

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Assessment report · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Penetration test results · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling
  • Risk assessment report · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Records of corrective actions taken · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Audit records · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Test of Organizational processes for vulnerability scanning; organizational processes for risk response; organizational processes for incident management and response; mechanisms/tools supporting and/or implementing vulnerability scanning; mechanisms supporting and/or implementing risk response; mechanisms · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Procedures addressing vulnerability scanning · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • System security plan · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Mostly documents and reviews. Pull the 2 system-held artefacts from your Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling on a schedule; put the documents under version control with an owner and review date, and log each review as a dated record with a named reviewer.

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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