The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has updated its security and privacy control catalog to enhance the management of software updates and patch releases. The revision is intended to help organizations more effectively mitigate risks associated with software maintenance. The update is part of NIST’s broader response to a recent Executive Order aimed at strengthening the nation’s cybersecurity posture.
NIST identified that professionals will instantly recognize this catalog as one of NIST’s flagship risk management publications: Security and Privacy Controls for Information Systems and Organizations (NIST Special Publication 800-53). It offers a comprehensive set of security and privacy safeguards, known as controls, designed to strengthen the systems, products, and services that support the nation’s businesses, government, and critical infrastructure.
The NIST modifications respond to President Donald Trump’s June Executive Order 14306, Sustaining Select Efforts to Strengthen the Nation’s Cybersecurity and Amending Executive Order 13694 and Executive Order 14144. Completed with the help of a new commenting system in which stakeholders could provide feedback to proposed changes in real-time and preview the proposed revisions before final publication, the update is available in several electronic formats.
“The changes are intended to emphasize secure software development practices, and to help organizations understand their role in ensuring the security of the software on their systems,” Victoria Pillitteri, a NIST computer scientist who led the project, said in a Wednesday media statement. “Ultimately, we want to help them achieve their goals while minimizing the risk of a patch creating unintended consequences.”
The changes to SP 800-53 address multiple aspects of the software development and deployment process, including addressing software and system resiliency by design, developer testing, deployment, and management of updates, and software integrity and validation.
Among the changes are three entirely new controls. Logging Syntax (SA-15) defines an electronic format for recording security-related events to support more effective incident response. By focusing on standardizing data formats, it facilitates automation and enables teams to reconstruct security incidents more quickly. Root Cause Analysis (SI-02(07)) requires conducting a review to identify the cause of a software update issue or failure, developing an action plan, and implementing corrective measures. Design for Cyber Resiliency (SA-24) advises designing systems for survivability, ensuring they can anticipate, withstand, respond to, and recover from attacks while maintaining critical functions.
SP 800-53 Release 5.2.0 addresses multiple aspects of the software development and deployment process, including software and system resiliency by design, developer testing, the deployment and management of updates, and software integrity and validation. The update also revises the discussion sections of some existing controls to provide additional scoping and implementation examples.
Additionally, SP 800-53A Release 5.2.0 provides corresponding updates to SP 800-53A, Assessing Security and Privacy Controls in Information Systems and Organizations. No changes were made to SP 800-53B, Control Baselines for Information Systems and Organizations, but a new release has been issued for consistency.
The update also revises the technical content of some existing controls and provides additional examples of how to implement them.
NIST recognized that most software is directly exposed to the internet, which puts it at significant risk of compromise. Patching is a critical component of preventive maintenance that helps to reduce the risk of data breaches and other adverse events.
Update management can be challenging because of the need to balance the trade-offs between deploying patches quickly to address critical vulnerabilities or bugs and thoroughly testing to ensure that critical functions and services are not affected. Once a vendor detects a vulnerability in its software, deploying a patch quickly reduces the window of opportunity for attackers, but it increases the risk that the less thoroughly tested patch might disrupt an organization’s operations. Conversely, thorough testing decreases the risk of operational disruption but increases the window of opportunity for attackers.
“The updated controls emphasize the importance of monitoring the particular component being updated as well as the component’s relationship to the overall system,” Pillitteri said.
NIST mentioned that the complete set of changes is available at the Cybersecurity and Privacy Reference Tool (CPRT), where the updated version is listed as SP 800-53 Rev. 5.2.0. In addition, NIST is now providing updates to the control catalog through CPRT, which allows downloads in machine-readable formats, including OSCAL and JSON. The agency has also adopted a new public engagement process that allows stakeholders to respond to proposed changes in real-time during comment periods and to make suggestions at any time.
Pillitteri said that the new engagement process will allow NIST to maintain its usual rigor and transparency, while the different available formats make it easier for users to implement the updated controls.
“We are trying to keep this comprehensive set of security and privacy controls agile,” she said. “NIST can now develop and rapidly issue updates to this guideline while coordinating with stakeholders in a transparent way that meets customer demand. It’s part of our effort to develop and issue standards at the pace of technology.”
NIST has just published its initial public draft of NIST SP 1331 IPD – Quick-Start Guide for Using CSF 2.0 to Improve Management of Emerging Cybersecurity Risks. The draft focuses on how organizations can enhance their ability to anticipate and manage emerging cyber threats by leveraging established risk management practices in conjunction with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0. It also highlights the importance of aligning these practices with enterprise risk management (ERM), allowing organizations to address potential risks proactively rather than reactively.
