NIST SP 800-53 Compliance Report

This article explains how to generate a NIST SP 800-53 Report in Acunetix 360. It also explains the different sections of the NIST SP 800-53 Report.

TIP: For more information about reports, refer to Overview of Reports, Report Templates, and Built-In Reports.

What is a NIST SP 800-53 Compliance Report?

The NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) SP 800-53 Report in Acunetix 360 provides information about issues in a target web application that infringe the information security standards established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53 (NIST SP 800-53).

  • NIST SP 800-53 develops information security standards and guidelines for federal information systems and organizations. Anyone that does business with the US federal agencies is also required to follow this guideline.
  • It is recommended for enterprises to adhere to the NIST's standard to manage information security. Nevertheless, NIST SP 800-53 does not cover the country's national security.  
  • The aim of the NIST SP 800-53 is to protect organizational operations and assets, individuals, and other organizations from hostile attacks, natural disasters, and human errors.

IMPORTANT: There can be other security issues found in your web applications but not listed in the NIST SP 800-53 Compliance Report.

How to generate a NIST SP 800-53 Compliance Report in Acunetix 360

  1. Log in to Acunetix 360.
  2. Select Scans > Recent Scans from the main menu.
  3. Click Report next to the relevant scan.

  1. Select Export.

  1. Use the Report drop-down to select NIST SP 800-53 Compliance.
  2. Use the Format drop-down to select HTML or PDF according to your report format preference.
  3. If required, select one of the following to configure your report:
  • Exclude Addressed Issues: Excludes those issues on which you've already taken action. (All information level findings are marked as accepted risk automatically by default. To change this behavior, see Do not mark Information issues as accepted risks in General Settings).
  • Exclude History of Issues: Excludes the issue history from the report. If unselected, only the last 10 history items appear in the report. For more information, refer to Viewing Issues in Acunetix 360.
  • Export Confirmed: Includes only confirmed vulnerabilities in the report.
  • Export Unconfirmed: includes only unconfirmed vulnerabilities in the report.
  1. Click Export.

Your report automatically starts downloading and can be viewed from your default download location.

Understanding the NIST SP 800-53 Compliance Report

There are five sections in the NIST SP-800 53 Compliance Report. The content of each section is explained below.

Scan metadata

This heading section provides basic details about the scan, such as scan duration, total requests, average speed, and overall risk level.

Vulnerabilities

This provides a numerical and graphical overview of:

  • The numbers of issues detected at various Vulnerability Severity Levels
  • The total number of identified vulnerabilities
  • The total number of confirmed vulnerabilities that Acunetix 360 verified by taking extra steps such as extracting some data from the target

Vulnerability details

This section describes all identified issues and vulnerabilities, along with their impact and proof of exploit. It also explains what actions to take and a remedy for each one, including external references for more information.

The table below explains the headings in the vulnerability details section.

Headings

Description

Name

This is the name of the identified issue.

Proof of Exploit

This is a piece of evidence supplied to prove that the vulnerability exists, showing information that is extracted from the target using the vulnerability. For further information, refer to Proof of Exploit.

Vulnerability Details

This displays further details about the vulnerability.

Certainty Value

This indicates how much Acunetix 360 is sure about the identified issue.

Impact

This shows the effect of the issue or vulnerability on the Target URL.

Required Skills for Successful Exploitation

This gives details on how malicious hackers could exploit this issue.

Actions to Take

These are the immediate steps you can take to decrease the impact or prevent exploitation.

Remedy

This offers further steps to resolve the identified issue.

External references

This provides links to other websites where you can find more information.

Classification

NIST SP 800-53: This provides further information about this vulnerability according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-53 (NIST SP 800-53).

CVSS 3.0: This shows the severity score of vulnerability based on the 3.0 edition of the Common Vulnerability Scoring System.

CVSS 3.1: This shows the severity score of vulnerability based on the 3.1 edition of the Common Vulnerability Scoring System.

Remedy References

This provides further information on the solution for identified issues.

Proof of Concept Notes

These notes demonstrate in principle how a system may be compromised.

Request

This is the whole HTTP request that Acunetix 360 sent in order to detect the issue.

Response

This is the reply from the system against the payload.

Show/Hide scan details

The last section provides information on the profile and policy settings that Acunetix 360 used to adjust its scan to achieve better scan coverage. For example, it lists all enabled security checks. This information gives developers more details on how this scan was run. For more information, refer to Security Checks.


 
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