# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-9(1) — Assignment Of Responsibility - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-9-1-assignment-of-responsibility - 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-9(1)`·high·Component: **Configuration Management** ## What this control requires > Assign responsibility for configuration management process development to personnel not involved in system development to ensure independence and enhance quality control. This control supports the Responsibility capability within the Configuration Management family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control CM-9(1) ### In plain English Assign responsibility for configuration management process development to personnel not involved in system development to ensure independence and enhance quality control. 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-9(1)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles. ## How to implement #### 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. #### Policy Management **Docs.** Keep each policy in version-controlled Markdown alongside the code that implements it; ship a signed PDF snapshot at each annual review and link the SHA into the SoA. #### 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. ### Operational checklist - **Policy.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Process.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Configuration.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **System.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Control.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, system, personnel, configuration, responsibility, capability, policy, configuration management. ## Evidence to collect - **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document. Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Assignment Of Responsibility. ## Common pitfalls - Manual cloud-console changes that never make it back to Terraform — drift accumulates until the next outage forces a reconciliation. - Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced. - 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. - [**NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.4.1** — Baseline Configuration](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-4-1-baseline-configuration) - [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.8.27** — Secure system architecture and engineering principles](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-8-27-secure-system-architecture-and-engineering-principles) - [**BSI C5:2020 AM-02** — Acceptable Use and Safe Handling of Assets Policy](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/bsi-c5-2020/am-02-acceptable-use-and-safe-handling-of-assets-policy) - [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) CC1.2** — Board Independence and Oversight](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/cc1-2-board-independence-and-oversight) - [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.308(a)(2)** — Assigned Security Responsibility](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-308-a-2-assigned-security-responsibility) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control SA-10(2)** — Alternative Configuration Management Processes](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-10-2-alternative-configuration-management-processes) - [**Control CM-1** — Policy And Procedures](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-1-policy-and-procedures) - [**Control SA-8(29)** — Repeatable And Documented Procedures](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-8-29-repeatable-and-documented-procedures) - [**Control CM-9** — Configuration Management Plan](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-9-configuration-management-plan) - [**Control SA-10** — Developer Configuration Management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-10-developer-configuration-management) - [**Control CM-3** — Configuration Change Control](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-3-configuration-change-control) ## 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-9(1)` Topics: governance riskconfiguration managementpolicy managementsecure development ## 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.