# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SA-15(5) — Attack Surface Reduction - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-15-5-attack-surface-reduction - 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) › SA — System and Services Acquisition - Last updated: 2026-06-05 - Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com) **NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `SA-15(5)`·high·Component: **System and Services Acquisition** ## What this control requires > Require developers to reduce attack surfaces to organization-defined thresholds. Apply layered defenses, least privilege, secure coding, and eliminate unsafe functions and vulnerable APIs to minimize exploitable system components. This control supports the Attack Surface Minimization Framework capability within the System and Services Acquisition family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control SA-15(5) ### In plain English Require developers to reduce attack surfaces to organization-defined thresholds. In practice, this means you can prove you access 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 **System and Services Acquisition**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control SA-15(5)) 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. ### Operational checklist - **Access.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Least.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Review.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Privilege.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **System.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, organization, system, privilege, functions, identity, review, components. ## Evidence to collect - **Identity Scan.** IAM / IdP exports — Entra ID, Okta, IAM Identity Center, Workspace directory — showing accounts, roles, MFA state and last sign-in. Identity analytics (Okta, SailPoint, Access Analyzer) demonstrates least-privilege. Focus: Attack Surface Reduction. ## 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. - [**NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.17.1** — Supply Chain Risk Management Plan](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-17-1-supply-chain-risk-management-plan) - [**CIS Controls v8 16.10** — Apply Secure Design Principles in Application Architectures](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/cis-controls-v8/16-10-apply-secure-design-principles-in-application-architectures) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control SA-21** — Developer Screening](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-21-developer-screening) - [**Control SA-8(14)** — Least Privilege](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-8-14-least-privilege) - [**Control SA-8(19)** — Continuous Protection](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-8-19-continuous-protection) - [**Control RA-9** — Criticality Analysis](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ra-9-criticality-analysis) - [**Control SA-8(9)** — Trusted Components](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-8-9-trusted-components) - [**Control SA-19(3)** — Component Disposal](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-19-3-component-disposal) ## 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 SA-15(5)` Topics: governance riskidentity managementaccess reviewprivileged accesssecure 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.