NIST Special Publication 800 -40 Revision 3 Guide to Enterprise Patch Management Technologies Murugiah Souppaya Karen Scarfone C O M P U T E R S E C U R I T Y NIST Special Publication 800 -40 Revision 3 Guide to Enterprise Patch Management Technologies Murugiah Souppaya Computer Security Division Information Technology Laboratory Karen Scarfone Scarfone Cybersecurity Clifton, VA July 2013 U.S. Department of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Secretary National Institute of Standards and Technology Patrick D. Gallagher, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and Director ii Authority This publication has been developed by NIST to further its statutory responsibilities under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Public Law (P.L.) 107 -347. NIST is responsible for developing information security standards and guidelines, incl uding minimum requirements for F ederal information systems, but such stan dards and guidelines shall not apply to national security systems without the express approval of appropriate Federal officials exercising policy authority over such systems. This guideline is consistent with the requirements of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A -130, Section 8b(3), Securing Agency Information Systems, as analyzed in Circular A - 130, Appendix IV: Analysis of Key Sections. Supplemental information is provided in Circular A-130, Appendix III, Security of Federal Automated Information Resources. Nothing in this publication should be taken to contradict the standards and guidelines made mandatory and binding on F ederal agencies by the Secretary of Commerce under statu tory authority. Nor should these guidelines be interpreted as altering or superseding the existing authorities of the Se cretary of Commerce, Dir ector of the OMB, or any other F ederal official. This publication may be used by nongovernmental organizations on a voluntary basis and is not subject to copyright in the United States. Attribution would, however, be appreciated by NIST. National Institute of Standards and Technology Special Publication 800-4 0 Revision 3 Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. Spec. Publ. 800-4 0 Rev. 3, 26 pages ( July 2013) http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-40r3 CODEN: NSPUE2 Comments on this publication may be submitted to: National Institute of Standards and Technology Attn: Computer Security Division, Information Technology Laboratory 100 Bureau Drive (Mail Stop 8930) Gaithersburg, MD 20899- 8930 Certain commercial entities, equipment, or materials may be identified in this document in order to describe an experimental procedure or concept adequately. Such identification is not intended to imply recommendation or endorsement by NIST, nor is it intended to imply that the entities, materials, or equipment are necessarily the best available for the purpose. There may be references in this publication to other publications currently under development by NIST in accordance with its assigned statutory responsibilities. The information in this publication, including concepts and methodologies, may be used by Federal agencies even before the completion of such companion publications. Thus, until each publication is completed, current requirements, guideline s, and procedures, where they e xist, remain operative. For planning and transition purposes, Federal agencies may wish to closely follow the development of these new publications by NIST. Organizations are encouraged to review all draft publications during public comment periods and provide feedback to NIST. All NIST Computer Security Division publications, other than the ones noted above, are available at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications. iii Reports on Computer Systems Technology The Information Tech