Application Vulnerability Remediation

[Applicable to all providers (CSP, MP, OSP, AP) excluding AIC unless otherwise specified]
1. Define Remediation Process Scope: Establish provider-specific processes for identifying, prioritizing, and remediating application security vulnerabilities as outlined in the provider-specific sections below. Ensure processes cover the entire vulnerability lifecycle, including detection, assessment, mitigation, and validation, across applications and interfaces.

2. Remediation Governance Structure: Establish clear roles and responsibilities for managing the remediation process, involving cross-functional teams (e.g., security, development, operations) and oversight by governance bodies. Define escalation workflows involving security leads, senior management, and compliance teams to prioritize and address critical vulnerabilities effectively.

3. Remediation Documentation Standards: Define structured documentation standards for the remediation process, including vulnerability reports, risk assessments, remediation plans, and validation records. Use consistent templates to document vulnerability details, impact analysis, mitigation steps, and post-remediation verification to ensure traceability and auditability.

4. Remediation Management Framework: Implement a structured process for managing remediation activities. Conduct regular vulnerability assessments and prioritize remediation based on risk severity (e.g., CVSS scores, exploitability). Review and update remediation processes at least annually or following significant changes (e.g., new vulnerabilities, system updates, or regulatory requirements). Ensure alignment with relevant standards (e.g., OWASP Top 10, NIST 800-53, ISO 27001) and AI-specific frameworks like NIST AI Risk Management Framework and OWASP LLM Top 10. Automate vulnerability tracking and reporting where possible using security tools.

5. Communication and Training Standards: Define requirements for communicating remediation processes, including formal distribution of vulnerability reports, mandatory training for developers and security teams on secure coding and remediation techniques, and awareness programs for stakeholders. Ensure remediation policies and tools are accessible via internal portals and that teams are trained on vulnerability management and compliance requirements.

6. Quality Control and Validation Standards: Define policies for quality assurance of remediation efforts, including requirements for re-testing mitigated vulnerabilities, conducting root cause analysis, and validating fixes through static/dynamic analysis or penetration testing. Establish automated monitoring and alerting to detect reintroduced vulnerabilities and ensure ongoing compliance with security standards.

1. Review Vulnerability Scanning for Hosted Services: Confirm use of CSP-native scanners and third-party testing.

2. Validate Customer Notification and Advisory Process as customers need timely info about vulnerabilities in shared services. Check how CSPs disseminate CVEs and issue advisory reports or mitigation scripts.

3. Assess Remediation Timeframes and Automation: Examine auto-remediation engines (e.g., AWS Inspector + Systems Manager) and patch windows.

4. Inspect Secure Image and Runtime Lifecycle: Audit image repositories, attestations, and runtime hardening timelines.

5. Confirm Enforcement of Security Baselines: Test Policy-as-Code rules that detect and fix known configuration vulnerabilities.

From CCM:
1. Examine the policy and procedures to remediate application security vulnerabilities and automating remediation.
2. Evaluate whether roles and responsibilities, including escalation paths for application security incident response and remediation, are defined and effective.
3. Determine if the organization leverages automation when possible and if this automation increases remediation efficiency.