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TDA-09.7: Manual Code Review

TDA 5 — Medium Detect

Mechanisms exist to require the developers of Technology Assets, Applications and/or Services (TAAS) to employ a manual code review process to identify and remediate unique flaws that require knowledge of the application’s requirements and design.

Control Question: Does the organization require the developers of Technology Assets, Applications and/or Services (TAAS) to employ a manual code review process to identify and remediate unique flaws that require knowledge of the application’s requirements and design?

General (3)
Framework Mapping Values
NIST 800-53 R4 SA-11(4)
NIST 800-53 R5 (source) SA-11(4)
NIST 800-53 R5 (NOC) (source) SA-11(4)
US (2)
Framework Mapping Values
US C2M2 2.1 ARCHITECTURE-4.H.MIL3
US IRS 1075 SA-11(4)

Capability Maturity Model

Level 0 — Not Performed

There is no evidence of a capability to require the developers of Technology Assets, Applications and/or Services (TAAS) to employ a manual code review process to identify and remediate unique flaws that require knowledge of the application’s requirements and design.

Level 1 — Performed Informally

C|P-CMM1 is N/A, since a structured process is required to require the developers of Technology Assets, Applications and/or Services (TAAS) to employ a manual code review process to identify and remediate unique flaws that require knowledge of the application’s requirements and design.

Level 2 — Planned & Tracked

C|P-CMM2 is N/A, since a well-defined process is required to require the developers of Technology Assets, Applications and/or Services (TAAS) to employ a manual code review process to identify and remediate unique flaws that require knowledge of the application’s requirements and design.

Level 3 — Well Defined

Technology Development & Acquisition (TDA) efforts are standardized across the organization and centrally managed, where technically feasible, to ensure consistency. CMM Level 3 control maturity would reasonably expect all, or at least most, the following criteria to exist: o Provides governance oversight for the implementation of applicable statutory, regulatory and contractual cybersecurity and data protection controls to protect the confidentiality, integrity, availability and safety of the organization's applications, systems, services and data for technology development and acquisition. o Ensures the Information Assurance Program (IAP) evaluates applicable cybersecurity and data protection controls as part of “business as usual” pre-production testing. o Operates the Cybersecurity Supply Chain Risk Management (C-SCRM) program to identify and mitigate supply chain-related risks and threats.

  • Secure development practices conform to industry-recognized standards for secure engineering (e.g., OWASP, NIST SP 800-218, NIST SP 800-160, etc.).
  • A procurement team, or similar function, ensures that third party development and/ or acquisitions meet, or exceed, the organization's business, cybersecurity and data privacy requirements to have secure and resilient systems, applications, services and processes.
  • A Software Assurance Maturity Model (SAMM) governs a secure development lifecycle for the development of systems, applications and services.
  • Administrative processes exist and technologies are configured to implement secure configuration settings by default to reduce the likelihood of software being deployed with weak security settings, putting the asset at a greater risk of compromise.
  • An IT Asset Management (ITAM) function, or similar function, categorizes devices according to the data the asset stores, transmits and/ or processes and applies the appropriate technology controls to protect the asset and data.
  • A formal Change Management (CM) program help to ensure that no unauthorized changes are made, all changes are documented, services are not disrupted and resources are used efficiently.
  • A Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) function, or similar function;
  • A Project Management Office (PMO), or project management function, enables IAP pre-production testing of cybersecurity and data protection controls as part of the organization's established project management processes.
Level 4 — Quantitatively Controlled

See C|P-CMM3. There are no defined C|P-CMM4 criteria, since it is reasonable to assume a quantitatively-controlled process is not necessary to require the developers of Technology Assets, Applications and/or Services (TAAS) to employ a manual code review process to identify and remediate unique flaws that require knowledge of the application’s requirements and design.

Level 5 — Continuously Improving

See C|P-CMM4. There are no defined C|P-CMM5 criteria, since it is reasonable to assume a continuously-improving process is not necessary to require the developers of Technology Assets, Applications and/or Services (TAAS) to employ a manual code review process to identify and remediate unique flaws that require knowledge of the application’s requirements and design.

Assessment Objectives

  1. TDA-09.7_A01 specific code requiring manual code review is defined.
  2. TDA-09.7_A02 processes, procedures, and/or techniques used for manual code reviews are defined.
  3. TDA-09.7_A03 the developer of the system, system component, or system service is required to perform a manual code review of organization-defined specific code using organization-defined processes, procedures, and/or techniques.

Technology Recommendations

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