Control statement
- a.Use software and associated documentation in accordance with contract agreements and copyright laws;
- b.Track the use of software and associated documentation protected by quantity licenses to control copying and distribution; and
- c.Control and document the use of peer-to-peer file sharing technology to ensure that this capability is not used for the unauthorized distribution, display, performance, or reproduction of copyrighted work.
Discussion
Software license tracking can be accomplished by manual or automated methods, depending on organizational needs. Examples of contract agreements include software license agreements and non-disclosure agreements.
From control text to operational evidence
Use Software Usage Restrictions as a testable risk decision. Translate the official statement into accountable people, repeatable processes, configured technology, and evidence that demonstrates the outcome over time. In this family, pay particular attention to secure baselines, controlled change, configuration visibility, and drift management.
Implementation workflow
- Define the control boundary, responsible owner, inherited portions, and systems or processes in scope.
- Resolve each organization-defined parameter before declaring the control implemented.
- Document how the implementation satisfies every clause of the official control statement.
- Collect evidence as a normal byproduct of operation rather than only before an assessment.
- Review exceptions, changes, and monitoring results on a risk-based cadence.
Evidence examples
- approved baseline configurations
- change tickets and approvals
- configuration scans and drift reports
- software and hardware inventories
Common failure patterns
- baselines documented but not enforced
- emergency changes never reconciled
- asset inventories that omit cloud or ephemeral resources
- security-impact analysis performed after deployment
Questions practitioners should ask
- What risk decision is this control intended to support in this system?
- Which parts are implemented locally, inherited, shared, or not applicable—and what evidence supports that decision?
- Do the documented narrative, deployed configuration, operating process, and collected evidence agree?
- What event or threshold requires the implementation to be reviewed or changed?
Assessment objectives and methods
Show the assessment objective
- CM-10a.software and associated documentation are used in accordance with contract agreements and copyright laws;
- CM-10b.the use of software and associated documentation protected by quantity licenses is tracked to control copying and distribution;
- CM-10c.the use of peer-to-peer file sharing technology is controlled and documented to ensure that peer-to-peer file sharing is not used for the unauthorized distribution, display, performance, or reproduction of copyrighted work.
Examine
- Configuration management policy
- software usage restrictions
- software contract agreements and copyright laws
- site license documentation
- list of software usage restrictions
- software license tracking reports
- configuration management plan
- system security plan
- system security plan
- other relevant documents or records
Interview
- Organizational personnel operating, using, and/or maintaining the system
- organizational personnel with software license management responsibilities
- organizational personnel with information security responsibilities
- system/network administrators
Test
- Organizational processes for tracking the use of software protected by quantity licenses
- organizational processes for controlling/documenting the use of peer-to-peer file sharing technology
- mechanisms implementing software license tracking
- mechanisms implementing and controlling the use of peer-to-peer files sharing technology
Related controls
These relationships come from the official OSCAL catalog. They indicate useful dependencies or context, not automatic inheritance or equivalence.
Control enhancements
Enhancements add specificity, strength, or scope to the base control. Baseline badges show explicit selections in the official SP 800-53B OSCAL profiles.
CM-10(1) — Open-source Software
Establish the following restrictions on the use of open-source software: [Organization-defined: restrictions].
Official discussion
Open-source software refers to software that is available in source code form. Certain software rights normally reserved for copyright holders are routinely provided under software license agreements that permit individuals to study, change, and improve the software. From a security perspective, the major advantage of open-source software is that it provides organizations with the ability to examine the source code. In some cases, there is an online community associated with the software that inspects, tests, updates, and reports on issues found in software on an ongoing basis. However, remediating vulnerabilities in open-source software may be problematic. There may also be licensing issues associated with open-source software, including the constraints on derivative use of such software. Open-source software that is available only in binary form may increase the level of risk in using such software.
Organization-defined parameters (1)
Assessment objectives and methods
[Organization-defined: restrictions] are established for the use of open-source software.
Examine
- Configuration management policy
- software usage restrictions
- software contract agreements and copyright laws
- site license documentation
- list of software usage restrictions
- software license tracking reports
- configuration management plan
- system security plan
- system security plan
- other relevant documents or records
Interview
- Organizational personnel operating, using, and/or maintaining the system
- organizational personnel with software license management responsibilities
- organizational personnel with information security responsibilities
- system/network administrators
Test
- Organizational processes for tracking the use of software protected by quantity licenses
- organizational processes for controlling/documenting the use of peer-to-peer file sharing technology
- mechanisms implementing software license tracking
- mechanisms implementing and controlling the use of peer-to-peer files sharing technology
Related controls
Authoritative sources
Bare Metal Cyber is an independent educational publisher and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NIST. Official control requirements and interpretations remain with NIST and the responsible authorizing organization.