11.4.1 Penetration testing methodology defined and implemented

The entity must define, document and implement a penetration testing methodology that includes: industry-accepted testing approaches; coverage of critical systems and of the entire CDE perimeter; tests run from both outside and inside the network; tests validating any scope-reduction and segmentation controls; tests at the application layer that find at least the vulnerability types listed under Requirement 6.2.4; tests at the network layer covering every component supporting network functions plus operating systems; a review of the threats and vulnerabilities the entity met over the past 12 months; a documented approach for assessing and addressing risk from exploitable vulnerabilities and weaknesses the testing finds; and keeping the results of testing and of remediation for a minimum of 12 months. Applicability: internal testing means testing within the CDE and into it from trusted and untrusted internal networks; external testing means testing the exposed outer edge of trusted networks, and of critical systems that are reachable from or connected to public network infrastructure. Objective under the customized approach: a formal methodology exists for thorough technical testing in which a competent manual attacker tries to exploit vulnerabilities and weaknesses through simulated attacks.

Source: PCI DSS v4.0.1, 11.4.1. 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.