BSI C5:2020 DEV-08 — Version Control

What this control requires

Implements version control to track change dependencies and enable restoration of previous states. Ensures recovery from errors or vulnerabilities, maintaining cloud service stability and protecting customer data from deployment issues.

In plain English

Implements version control to track change dependencies and enable restoration of previous states. In practice, this means you can prove you review development-level controls on a defined cadence.

Why it matters

BSI C5 is the default cloud-security baseline German public-sector buyers and many DAX-listed enterprises expect; gaps here directly block procurement in the DACH region and frequently appear as must-have items in EU public-tender documents.

This control is rated high. Auditors expect a named owner, a remediation SLA, and a tooling artefact that evidences continuous operation.

What an auditor looks for

A C5 attesting auditor (under ISAE 3000 / IDW PS 860) tests both the design and — for a Type 2 — the operating effectiveness over the attestation period. For each criterion they look for both the Basic and any in-scope Additional objectives.

Within Development & Change Management, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Criterion DEV-08) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

How to implement

Secure Development

Pipeline. Require code review, SAST (Semgrep / Snyk Code), SCA (Dependabot / Renovate), secret-scanning and IaC scanning in the merge pipeline.

Branch protection. Protected branches enforce reviews, signed commits and passing CI before merge; document the protection rules as the control evidence.

Code Review Testing

Pipeline. Require at least one human reviewer plus passing CI (lint, type, unit, security scan) before merge — protected branches enforce this.

Operational checklist

• Review. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Data. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Secure. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Version Control. Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
• Scope: development, management.

Evidence to collect

• Code Repo Scan. Source-control evidence — branch protection, required reviewers, CI status, SCA / SAST reports.

Source control pipelines (GitHub, GitLab) enforce SDLC guardrails. Focus: Version Control.

Common pitfalls

• CI security checks set to warn-only; the merge button is faster than the security feedback.

How it maps to other frameworks

Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit.

• ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.8.28 — Secure coding
• SOC 2 (2017 TSC) CC1.3 — Organizational Structure and Reporting Lines
• CIS Controls v8 16.3 — Perform Root Cause Analysis on Security Vulnerabilities
• ISO/IEC 27701:2025 A.3.27 — Secure development life cycle
• NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.7.4 — Maintenance Tools

Related controls in BSI C5:2020

• Criterion DEV-01 — Policies for the development/procurement of information systems
• Criterion OPS-03 — Capacity Management - Controlling of Resources
• Criterion PSS-02 — Identification of Vulnerabilities of the Cloud Service
• Criterion OPS-17 — Logging and Monitoring - Availability of the Monitoring Software
• Criterion DEV-04 — Safety training and awareness programme regarding continuous software delivery and associated systems, components or tools.

References

• Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) — BSI C5:2020
• Catalogue identifier: Criterion DEV-08

Topics: secure developmentcode review testingdevsecopsbackup recovery