Specification for the Extensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) Version 1.2

Waltermire, David; Schmidt, Charles; Scarfone, Karen; Ziring, Neal

NIST IR 7275 Rev. 4

Specification for the Extensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) Version 1.2

Documentation Topics

Date Published: March 2012

Supersedes: IR 7275 Rev. 4 (09/30/2011)

Author(s)

David Waltermire (NIST), Charles Schmidt (MITRE), Karen Scarfone (Scarfone Cybersecurity), Neal Ziring (DoD)

Abstract

This report specifies the data model and Extensible Markup Language (XML) representation for the Extensible Configuration Checklist Description Format (XCCDF) Version 1.2. An XCCDF document is a structured collection of security configuration rules for some set of target systems. The XCCDF specification is designed to support information interchange, document generation, organizational and situational tailoring, automated compliance testing, and scoring. The specification also defines a data model and format for storing results of security guidance or checklist testing. The intent of XCCDF is to provide a uniform foundation for expression of security checklists and other configuration guidance, and thereby foster more widespread application of good security practices.

Keywords

eXtensible Configuration Checklist Description Format; FISMA; security controls; vulnerabilities; XCCDF; benchmarks; checklists

Control Families

Audit and Accountability; Configuration Management; Maintenance

Documentation

Publication:
NISTIR 7275 Rev. 4 (pdf)

Supplemental Material:
NISTIR 7275 Rev. 4 (markup) (pdf)

Document History:
03/01/12: IR 7275 Rev. 4 (Final)

Topics

Security and Privacy

audit & accountability, maintenance, security automation