What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on SI-16 Memory Protection?

System and information integrity policy; System and information integrity procedures; Procedures addressing memory protection for the system; System design documentation; System configuration settings and associated documentation; List of security safeguards protecting system memory from unauthorized code execution.

What is the most common gap auditors find on SI-16?

Memory protection controls such as data execution prevention or address randomization are not specified for the system

NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 · SI - System and Information Integrity

`SI-16` Memory Protection

Implement the following controls to protect the system memory from unauthorized code execution: organization-defined controls.

Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, SI-16. 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.

artefacts

held by a system

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

Test of Automated mechanisms supporting and/or implementing safeguards to protect the system memory from unauthorized code execution · Document repository

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

System audit records · Policy repository / GRC workspace

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

System and information integrity policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
System and information integrity procedures · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Procedures addressing memory protection for the system · Policy repository / GRC workspace
System design documentation · Document repository
System configuration settings and associated documentation · Policy repository / GRC workspace
List of security safeguards protecting system memory from unauthorized code execution · Document repository
System security plan · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Mostly documents and reviews. Pull the 1 system-held artefact from your Document repository 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

Memory protection controls such as data execution prevention or address randomization are not specified for the system
Memory protection features are disabled on legacy components with no compensating control recorded

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

SI-15 Information Output Filtering · SI-17 Fail-safe Procedures