NIST 800-171 3.14.1 (SI.L2-3.14.1): Flaw Remediation

Identify, report, and correct system flaws in a timely manner.

NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2, requirement 3.14.1

CMMC Level 2 practice SI.L2-3.14.1Published 2026-11-11

What 3.14.1 means in practice

Set time frames for identifying, reporting and correcting system flaws, then meet them: watch for vendor patches and advisories, tell the people responsible, and install fixes within the deadlines, the most serious first. Firmware, network devices and applications count as well as operating systems.

SPRS points and the CMMC POA&M

CMMC Level 2 practice: SI.L2-3.14.1
SPRS points: 5 points. When it is not met, the DoD Assessment Methodology subtracts 5 from the score of 110.
CMMC POA&M: Not allowed. It is worth 5 points, and 32 CFR 170.21(a)(2)(ii) admits only requirements worth 1 point, with one exception: 3.13.11 when encryption is used but not FIPS validated.

Sources: NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment Methodology, version 1.2.1 (June 24, 2020), Annex A; 32 CFR 170.21, Plan of Action and Milestones requirements.

What an assessor checks for 3.14.1

NIST SP 800-171A gives 6 determination statements for 3.14.1, each found satisfied or other than satisfied. Determine if:

3.14.1[a] the time within which to identify system flaws is specified.
3.14.1[b] system flaws are identified within the specified time frame.
3.14.1[c] the time within which to report system flaws is specified.
3.14.1[d] system flaws are reported within the specified time frame.
3.14.1[e] the time within which to correct system flaws is specified.
3.14.1[f] system flaws are corrected within the specified time frame.

NIST SP 800-171A (June 2018), assessment objectives for 3.14.1

Evidence that shows 3.14.1 is met

The time frames for identifying, reporting and correcting flaws.
Patch compliance reports for servers and endpoints.
Records of critical patches installed within the time frame.

How PolicyCortex gathers the evidence

PolicyCortex reads this evidence with the collectors below, read only, and grades 3.14.1 from it. Each line says what the product checks.

Azure Update Manager: Maintenance configurations. Checks that Azure Update Manager maintenance configurations patch inside the operating system and cover security and critical updates.
AWS: Data stores. Checks that RDS instances apply minor version upgrades automatically.

Related pages

Calculator: SPRS score calculator: mark 3.14.1 and the other 109 requirements and see the score.
Sample package: Sample package: an SSP, a POA&M and an evidence chain the product generated from demonstration data.
Family: All 7 System and Information Integrity requirements (3.14).
Previous: 3.13.16: CUI at Rest
Next: 3.14.2: Malware Protection
All requirements: All 110 NIST SP 800-171 requirements, by family.

Related records

Guides and articles describe the work. The evidence that work produces is described in three proof pages, the architecture page, and the two pages on authorization.

proof.state: Proof of State. What the environment was, as of a date someone else picks: point-in-time records, content hashed and chained.
proof.change: Proof of Change. Who or what altered the environment, under what authority, with before and after state hashes.
proof.agency: Proof of Agency. What a machine was permitted to do before it acted, what it did, and what would have stopped it.
architecture: Architecture. How the chain is built and where the evidence is stored in each delivery mode.
authorization: Continuous ATO. How an authorizing official's decision is recorded with its package, and how the authorized system is checked against it every hour.
baseline: NIST SP 800-53. The Low, Moderate and High baselines as evidence, with the SSP, SAR and POA&M generated from one record.