NIST · Shared reference library

NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 Common Control Library

Browse 1,193 controls and enhancements across 20 security and privacy families. Use the GovRAMP crosswalk to locate controls referenced by Security Snapshot, Core, and Moderate.

A shared catalog supports common-control planning; designation as a common, hybrid, or system-specific control depends on your organization’s implementation and inheritance decisions.

Sources and crosswalk scope

NIST OSCAL content 5.1.1+u4, retrieved 2026-09-18. GovRAMP Snapshot v1.4 and Core selection from Moderate v1.06 reference the December 2020 Rev. 5 text. Mappings establish exact identifier correspondence, not identical requirements, inherited implementation, or GovRAMP authorization. GovRAMP parameters and additional requirements remain authoritative for each program. Full Moderate, High, and other programs are not mapped here. Withdrawn controls are retained for reference.

Official pinned NIST source

SHA-256: 81cf2de45ede9aef3de7ce09d65ea9d32f662c483bbf916f6e346292b22f7763

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3 matching controls · Page 1 of 1

System and Communications Protection · Base control

SC-39 · Process Isolation

Control statement and discussion

NIST control statement

Maintain a separate execution domain for each executing system process.

Discussion

Systems can maintain separate execution domains for each executing process by assigning each process a separate address space. Each system process has a distinct address space so that communication between processes is performed in a manner controlled through the security functions, and one process cannot modify the executing code of another process. Maintaining separate execution domains for executing processes can be achieved, for example, by implementing separate address spaces. Process isolation technologies, including sandboxing or virtualization, logically separate software and firmware from other software, firmware, and data. Process isolation helps limit the access of potentially untrusted software to other system resources. The capability to maintain separate execution domains is available in commercial operating systems that employ multi-state processor technologies.

GovRAMP crosswalk

System and Communications Protection · Enhancement

SC-39(1) · Hardware Separation

View parent control
Control statement and discussion

NIST control statement

Implement hardware separation mechanisms to facilitate process isolation.

Discussion

Hardware-based separation of system processes is generally less susceptible to compromise than software-based separation, thus providing greater assurance that the separation will be enforced. Hardware separation mechanisms include hardware memory management.

GovRAMP crosswalk

Not selected in the imported Snapshot or Core sets. This does not establish exclusion from other GovRAMP baselines.

System and Communications Protection · Enhancement

SC-39(2) · Separate Execution Domain Per Thread

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Control statement and discussion

NIST control statement

Maintain a separate execution domain for each thread in [Assignment: multi-threaded processing].

Discussion

None.

GovRAMP crosswalk

Not selected in the imported Snapshot or Core sets. This does not establish exclusion from other GovRAMP baselines.