# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SR-5(2) — Assessments Prior To Selection, Acceptance, Modification, Or Update

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sr-5-2-assessments-prior-to-selection-acceptance-modification-or-update
- 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) › SR — Supply Chain Risk Management
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `SR-5(2)`·high·Component: **Supply Chain Risk Management**

## What this control requires

> Conduct assessments on systems, components, or services prior to selection, acceptance, modification, or update. These assessments, which can be internal or external, aim to identify vulnerabilities, tampering, or non-compliance with supply chain controls. Methods include static and dynamic analyses, penetration testing, and inspections. This control supports the System Selection, Risk Assessment capability within the Supply Chain Risk Management family.
> 
> — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control SR-5(2)

### In plain English

Conduct assessments on systems, components, or services prior to selection, acceptance, modification, or update. In practice, this means you can prove you dynamic 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 **Supply Chain Risk Management**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control SR-5(2)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

## How to implement

#### Vulnerability Management

**Scanners.** Pair an unauthenticated scanner (Nessus / Qualys / Tenable.io) for external surface with an authenticated agent for OS/library CVEs on every host.

**SLA.** Document remediation SLAs by CVSS / EPSS: critical 7 days, high 30 days, medium 90 days; report monthly trend to leadership.

**Containers.** Scan images in CI (Trivy / Grype / Snyk Container) AND at runtime; block deploys on critical findings without exception.

#### 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

-   **Dynamic.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Security.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Internal.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Review.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Chain.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** management, system, controls, assessments, assessment, analyses, compliance, review.

## Evidence to collect

-   **Vapt Scan.** `vapt_scan` evidence

Pen-test and vulnerability scan reports substantiate attack-surface coverage. Focus: Assessments Prior To Selection, Acceptance, Modification, Or Update.

## Common pitfalls

-   Scans that hit only the perimeter; missing authenticated scans of OS, runtime libs and base images so most CVEs are invisible.

## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5

-   [**Control SA-12(11)** — Penetration Testing / Analysis Of Elements, Processes, And Actors](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-12-11-penetration-testing-analysis-of-elements-processes-and-actors)
-   [**Control CA-8** — Penetration Testing](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ca-8-penetration-testing)
-   [**Control RA-5(9)** — Penetration Testing And Analyses](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ra-5-9-penetration-testing-and-analyses)
-   [**Control SA-12(7)** — Assessments Prior To Selection / Acceptance / Update](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-12-7-assessments-prior-to-selection-acceptance-update)
-   [**Control SA-19(4)** — Anti-Counterfeit Scanning](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-19-4-anti-counterfeit-scanning)
-   [**Control RA-5(3)** — Breadth And Depth Of Coverage](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ra-5-3-breadth-and-depth-of-coverage)

## 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 SR-5(2)`

Topics: governance riskvulnerability managementcode review testingpatch managementsupply chain security

## 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.