NIST SP 800-53A Rev. 5
Appendices D to F: Penetration Testing, Reporting and Ongoing Assessment

NIST SP 800-53A Rev. 5 53A-D: Penetration Testing

Uses adversarial testing to find and exploit weakness in a system under agreed rules, producing evidence that controls hold or do not under attack.

Maintained by Gerard BlokdykVerified against the published standard Control text last updated

What else in your programme already covers this

This control maps to 19 controls across 10 other frameworks. If you already hold one of them, the evidence you collected for it is the starting point here rather than new work.

CIS Controls v8 · 3 controls

  • CIS-18.1 Establish and Maintain a Penetration Testing Program
  • CIS-18.2 Perform Periodic External Penetration Tests
  • CIS-18.5 Perform Periodic Internal Penetration Tests

FedRAMP High · 3 controls

  • CA-8 Penetration Testing
  • CA-8(1) Penetration Testing | Independent Penetration Testing Agent or Team (CA-8(1))
  • CA-8(2) Penetration Testing | Red Team Exercises (CA-8(2))

FedRAMP Moderate · 3 controls

  • CA-8 Penetration Testing
  • CA-8(1) Penetration Testing | Independent Penetration Testing Agent or Team (CA-8(1))
  • CA-8(2) Penetration Testing | Red Team Exercises (CA-8(2))

PCI DSS 4.0 · 3 controls

  • 11.4.1 11.4.1 Penetration testing methodology defined and implemented
  • 11.4.2 11.4.2 Internal penetration testing annually and after change
  • 11.4.3 11.4.3 External penetration testing annually and after change
  • ASBv3-PV-7 Conduct regular red team operations
  • PV-5 Perform vulnerability assessments

ISO 27001:2022 · 1 control

  • 8.34 Protection of information systems during audit testing 

ISO 27002:2022 · 1 control

  • 8.34 Protection of information systems during audit testing

Every mapping shown was judged rather than inferred from wording similarity, and the ones that failed review are published too. See the coverage reports and what was rejected.

Other controls in Appendices D to F: Penetration Testing, Reporting and Ongoing Assessment

Query this from an agent

The graph holds this control, the 19 it maps to, and the evidence behind each claim, over MCP and REST.