EvidenceSheet
PCI DSS v4.0.1 · Req 11: Test Security Regularly

11.3.1.3 Internal scans after significant change

After any significant change, internal vulnerability scans must be performed so that: vulnerabilities ranked high-risk or critical under the Requirement 6.3.1 rankings are resolved; rescans are run as needed; and the scans are carried out by qualified personnel with organizational independence from the tested systems (a QSA or ASV is not required). Guidance (good practice): scan as part of the change process under Requirement 6.5.2, covering every component the change affects, before the change is treated as complete. Applicability: the credentialed scanning of 11.3.1.2 need not be used for these post-change scans. Customized approach objective: after significant network or system changes, automated tools operating inside the network confirm the security state of every system component, and detected issues are assessed and fixed using a formal risk assessment framework.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 11.3.1.3. 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 PCI DSS v4.0.1 in the compliance library.

Version 4.0.1 is the active version; 4.0 has been retired. Appendix A1 applies only to multi-tenant service providers, A2 only to card-present POS POI terminals that still use SSL or early TLS, and A3 only when a payment brand or acquirer requires it. Which requirements apply to you follows your validation type.

4
artefacts
0
held by a system
3
at each review
hard
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

none for this control

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Change records flagged as significant with linked post-change scan reports · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling
  • Rescan evidence showing high-risk and critical findings closed after the change · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling
  • Qualification and independence evidence for whoever ran the scan · Vulnerability scanner / patch tooling

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Change procedure step requiring a scan before closure · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

No system holds this evidence for you: it is people and documents. Reminders and routing to the owner still save time. Put the document under version control with an owner and review date, and log each review as a record with reviewer and date.

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.

Build my evidence sheet

11.3.1.2 Authenticated internal vulnerability scanning · 11.3.2 Quarterly ASV external vulnerability scans