CMMC Requirement RA.L2-3.11.3 – Vulnerability Remediation: Remediate vulnerabilities in accordance with risk assessments.
This article discusses how vulnerability management, and in particular, vulnerability remediation, can drastically reduce risk and harden the attack surface. This document provides assessment guidance for conducting Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) assessments for Level 2. This PDF provides recommended actions, lessons learned and additional considerations, and resource materials relating to vulnerability remediation. This NIST Special Publication is a guide to the basic technical aspects of conducting information security assessments. This article from PurpleSec identifies the importance of prioritizing vulnerabilities. This article from Sprocket Security highlights the challenges of vulnerability management and how to establish an effective vulnerability management program. This video discusses how to remediate vulnerabilities found in the scanning process to ensure compliance with this control.
Vulnerabilities discovered, for example, via the scanning conducted in response to RA.L2-3.11.2, are remediated with consideration of the related assessment of risk. The consideration of risk influences the prioritization of remediation efforts and the level of effort to be expended in the remediation for specific vulnerabilities.
Further Discussion
Not all vulnerabilities captured in a vulnerability scanner may pose the same level of risk to an organization. Prioritize mitigation efforts to close the most critical vulnerabilities first.
Track all vulnerability remediation to ensure completion; also track vulnerabilities that you have determined not to remediate.
This requirement, RA.L2-3.11.3, benefits from CA.L2-3.12.2. RA.L2-3.11.3 allows remediation of vulnerabilities to take place based on the developed plans of actions for vulnerabilities from CA.L2-3.12.2.