# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-10 — Software Usage Restrictions - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-10-software-usage-restrictions - Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5) › CM — Configuration Management - Last updated: 2026-06-05 - Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com) **NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `CM-10`·high·Component: **Configuration Management** ## What this control requires > Use software and documentation per contract agreements and copyright laws, track licensed software to control copying, and document peer-to-peer file sharing to prevent unauthorized use. This control supports the Compliance capability within the Configuration Management family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control CM-10 ### In plain English Use software and documentation per contract agreements and copyright laws, track licensed software to control copying, and document peer-to-peer file sharing to prevent unauthorized use. In practice, this means you can prove you policy management-level controls on a defined cadence. ## Why it matters SP 800-53 is the catalogue every U.S. federal authorisation (FedRAMP, FISMA, CMMC) and most regulated industries point at. A missing control surfaces as a Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) item that an Authorizing Official must approve before the Authority To Operate is granted or renewed. 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 3PAO (FedRAMP) or Independent Assessor (NIST RMF) tests against NIST SP 800-53A assessment procedures. For each control they expect a documented implementation that addresses every assessment objective (Examine, Interview, Test) and an implementation summary in the System Security Plan. Within **Configuration Management**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control CM-10) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles. ## How to implement #### Cloud Posture **CSPM.** Run Wiz / Prisma / Defender for Cloud / Security Command Center over every account; auto-ticket findings above your accepted-risk threshold. #### Configuration Management **Policy-as-code.** Codify the control as Service Control Policies (AWS), Azure Policy initiatives, or Organisation Policy (GCP) so the platform enforces what the document promises. **IaC.** Gate Terraform / Pulumi / CloudFormation changes with Checkov / tfsec / OPA so misconfigurations never reach production. **Drift.** Run a CSPM (Wiz / Prisma / Defender for Cloud / Security Command Center) over every account and route findings to a single risk register. #### Network Security **AWS.** VPC Flow Logs to S3, default-deny security groups, AWS Network Firewall for north-south, and Transit Gateway for hub-and-spoke segmentation. **Azure.** NSGs with deny-by-default, Azure Firewall Premium with TLS inspection, Private Endpoints for PaaS, and Microsoft Defender for Cloud's secure score for drift. **GCP.** VPC Service Controls perimeters around sensitive APIs, Cloud NGFW Enterprise for L7 inspection, Private Service Connect for managed services. ### Operational checklist - **Policy.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Restrictions.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Usage.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Security.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Configuration.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, configuration, software, compliance, usage restrictions, capability, security policy, agreements. ## Evidence to collect - **Infra Scan.** Continuous infrastructure-posture telemetry — AWS Config, Azure Policy compliance, GCP Organisation Policy, Wiz / Prisma findings. Infrastructure posture tooling (AWS Config, Azure Policy, Nessus) verifies platform hardening. Focus: Software Usage Restrictions. ## Common pitfalls - Treating CSPM findings as a backlog instead of a hot queue: findings older than the policy SLA accumulate until the auditor asks why. - Manual cloud-console changes that never make it back to Terraform — drift accumulates until the next outage forces a reconciliation. - Default-allow egress rules; East-West traffic with no segmentation; jump hosts on the public internet with password auth. - Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced. ## 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. - [**NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.4.6** — Least Functionality](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-4-6-least-functionality) - [**BSI C5:2020 PI-02** — Contractual agreements for the provision of data](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/bsi-c5-2020/pi-02-contractual-agreements-for-the-provision-of-data) - [**CIS Controls v8 16.14** — Conduct Threat Modeling](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/cis-controls-v8/16-14-conduct-threat-modeling) - [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.5.34** — Privacy and protection of personal identifiable information (PII)](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-34-privacy-and-protection-of-personal-identifiable-information-pii) - [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.308(a)(5)(i)** — Security Awareness and Training](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-308-a-5-i-security-awareness-and-training) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control CM-11** — User-Installed Software](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-11-user-installed-software) - [**Control CM-6(2)** — Respond To Unauthorized Changes](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-6-2-respond-to-unauthorized-changes) - [**Control CM-2** — Baseline Configuration](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-2-baseline-configuration) - [**Control CM-3(5)** — Automated Security Response](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-3-5-automated-security-response) - [**Control SA-6** — Software Usage Restrictions](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-6-software-usage-restrictions) - [**Control CM-2(7)** — Configure Systems And Components For High-Risk Areas](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-2-7-configure-systems-and-components-for-high-risk-areas) ## References - [NIST Computer Security Resource Center — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5](https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/risk-management/sp800-53-controls) - Catalogue identifier: `Control CM-10` Topics: governance riskcloud infrastructurecloud postureconfiguration managementnetwork securitypolicy management ## Related compliance guidance - [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: a practical implementation guide for cloud teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5): Start with the full NIST SP 800-53 implementation guide — scope, roadmap, evidence and how the assessment runs. - [NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC: a practical guide to protecting CUI in the cloud](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3): If your obligation is protecting CUI in your own systems for a federal or defence contract, this derived subset — not the full catalogue — is the requirement. - [SOC 2 compliance: a practical implementation guide for cloud-native SaaS teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria): Most commercial SaaS already hold a SOC 2 Type 2, and FedRAMP 20x Class A is designed for providers that have one.