Safeguard 4.2: Establish and Maintain a Secure Configuration Process for Network Infrastructure

Safeguard 4.2 requires you to run a repeatable, controlled process to define, approve, implement, and verify secure configurations for network infrastructure devices (routers, switches, firewalls, wireless controllers, load balancers). Operationalize it by standardizing hardened baselines, enforcing change control, continuously checking for drift, and retaining evidence that the process runs as designed. ¹

Key takeaways:

• Treat “secure configuration” as a lifecycle: baseline → approve → deploy → monitor drift → remediate.
• Scope is broader than firewalls; include all network infrastructure where misconfigurations create exposure.
• Audit success depends on evidence of recurring operation (config standards, change tickets, drift reports). ¹

The safeguard 4.2: establish and maintain a secure configuration process for network infrastructure requirement is about preventing avoidable outages and breaches caused by unmanaged device configurations. A CCO or GRC lead typically doesn’t need to pick the exact CLI commands; you need to ensure the organization has a governed process that produces consistent, reviewable, secure network device configurations, and that deviations are detected and corrected.

For most organizations, the failure mode is not “no security features exist.” The failure mode is informal configuration practices: one-off changes, undocumented exceptions, legacy protocols left enabled, and configuration drift across sites and environments. Safeguard 4.2 pushes you toward standard baselines, controlled change, and continuous verification across network infrastructure. ¹

This page gives requirement-level implementation guidance: who must comply, how to implement step-by-step, what evidence to retain for exams and audits, and a practical 30/60/90 execution plan. Where helpful, it also shows how to translate the safeguard into controls you can test and attest. ¹

Regulatory text

Framework requirement (excerpt): “CIS Controls v8 safeguard 4.2 implementation expectation (Establish and Maintain a Secure Configuration Process for Network Infrastructure).” ¹

What the operator must do

You must implement a repeatable secure configuration process for network infrastructure. In audit terms, that means:

• You have documented configuration standards (baselines) for in-scope network devices.
• You have a controlled method to apply configuration changes (authorization, testing where appropriate, implementation, rollback planning).
• You verify devices match the baseline and detect configuration drift.
• You remediate deviations (or approve exceptions) and keep evidence that this happens consistently. ¹

Plain-English interpretation of the requirement

Run network infrastructure configuration like a controlled production system:

• Decide what “secure” looks like for each device type and role (baseline).
• Make configuration changes through an approved workflow, not ad hoc.
• Check regularly that real devices still match the baseline.
• Fix drift fast, or formally accept the risk with an approved exception. ¹

This safeguard is satisfied by operational discipline plus proof. A strong program can still fail an assessment if you cannot show recurring evidence that the process runs.

Who it applies to

In-scope entities

Any enterprise or technology organization adopting CIS Controls v8 as its security baseline or mapping to it for customer, contractual, or internal security requirements. ¹

In-scope assets (network infrastructure)

Include devices and virtual appliances that control or route traffic, such as:

• Routers and switches (core, distribution, access)
• Firewalls and secure web gateways
• Wireless controllers and access point management platforms
• Load balancers / ADCs
• VPN concentrators
• SD-WAN controllers and edges
• Network management plane components (where config changes affect security posture)

A practical scoping rule for GRC: if a device can change routing, filtering, segmentation, remote access, or management-plane exposure, treat it as in scope for safeguard 4.2.

What you actually need to do (step-by-step)

Below is a sequence you can assign, track, and test.

Step 1: Define scope and ownership

1. Publish an inventory scope statement: device types, environments (on-prem, cloud network appliances), and who owns them (Network Engineering, SecOps, SRE).
2. Assign a control owner responsible for the configuration process and evidence production (usually Network Engineering with Security oversight).

Deliverable: a one-page scope/ownership record tied to the safeguard. ¹

Step 2: Create secure configuration baselines by device role

1. For each device class/role, produce a baseline standard that includes:

• Management plane protections (admin access paths, MFA integration where supported, permitted management protocols)
• Logging and time sync expectations
• Allowed cryptographic/protocol standards as applicable
• Segmentation and rule structure expectations (for firewalls)
• Backup and restore expectations
• Configuration review requirements and exception criteria

2. Put baselines under version control (a document repository is acceptable; a config repo is better).
3. Add a baseline change history: who approved, when, and why.

Deliverables: baseline standards + version history. ¹

Step 3: Implement controlled change for network configurations

1. Require change requests for baseline deviations and significant configuration updates.
2. Define approval logic:

• Standard changes (pre-approved patterns)
• Normal changes (peer review + approver)
• Emergency changes (post-implementation review within your internal policy window)

3. Require minimum change ticket fields:

• Device(s) impacted, business justification, security impact note
• Backout plan
• Validation plan (what proves success)
• Evidence attachment requirements (diff, screenshot, command output, or tool report)

Deliverables: change management procedure + sampled tickets. ¹

Step 4: Establish configuration monitoring and drift detection

1. Decide how you will detect drift:

• Network configuration management tools
• Periodic scripted checks against expected settings
• Centralized “golden config” comparisons

2. Set a cadence appropriate to your risk. (Cadence is an internal decision; document it and follow it.)
3. Define thresholds and routing:

• What constitutes “noncompliant”
• Where findings go (ticketing)
• Who must approve exceptions

Deliverables: drift reports, scan results, and the workflow from finding → ticket → closure. ¹

Step 5: Remediate deviations and manage exceptions

1. Require remediation tickets for drift that violates baseline.
2. Define an exception process:

• Time-bound exceptions
• Business rationale
• Compensating controls
• Formal approval (Security + system owner)
• Review cadence for renewal/closure

3. Keep an exceptions register for network infrastructure baseline deviations.

Deliverables: exceptions register + sample exception approvals + closure evidence. ¹

Step 6: Prove the process runs (recurring evidence capture)

This is the fastest way to avoid “paper control” findings: map safeguard 4.2 to documented control operation and recurring evidence capture. ¹

A practical approach:

• Monthly: drift report export + remediation status
• Per change: ticket with approval + validation evidence
• Quarterly (or your internal cadence): baseline review meeting notes + version bump record

If you use Daydream to manage control operations, set safeguard 4.2 as a recurring control with assigned owners, evidence requests, and automated reminders so the evidence arrives before audit season.

Required evidence and artifacts to retain

Keep evidence in a form an auditor can replay without special access. Minimum artifact set:

Evidence type	What “good” looks like	Common gap
Secure configuration baselines	Versioned standards per device role; approval recorded	One generic baseline for everything
Change management records	Tickets show approval, implementation, validation, rollback	No validation evidence attached
Drift detection outputs	Periodic reports; clear pass/fail; scoped device list	Reports exist but don’t map to remediation
Remediation tracking	Tickets tied to findings; closure notes	Findings closed with no proof
Exceptions register	Time-bounded, approved, reviewed	Exceptions live forever
Access/ownership mapping	RACI or owner list for network infrastructure	No accountable owner for evidence

Retention period is your policy decision; align with your audit and incident investigation needs.

Common exam/audit questions and hangups

Expect these questions from internal audit, customers, or assessors:

• “Show me your network device configuration standard for routers/firewalls, and who approved it.”
• “How do you prevent unauthorized config changes?”
• “How do you detect configuration drift, and how do you ensure findings are fixed?”
• “Pick one device and walk me from baseline to current config compliance evidence.”
• “Show all current exceptions for network baselines, with expiration and approval.”

Hangups that trigger findings:

• Baselines exist but are not tied to device roles or environments.
• Drift reports exist but do not show closure and re-test.
• Emergency changes are common and never reviewed afterward.

Frequent implementation mistakes and how to avoid them

1. Mistake: treating backups as “secure configuration.”
   Fix: backups support recovery, but safeguard 4.2 expects hardened standards plus a process to keep devices aligned.

2. Mistake: one baseline document that is too high-level.
   Fix: keep a short “policy” plus role-based “standards” that are testable.

3. Mistake: drift detection without an owner.
   Fix: name an operational owner for drift queue triage and require ticket closure evidence.

4. Mistake: undocumented exceptions (or exceptions by email/DM).
   Fix: route exceptions through a tracked workflow with expiration and compensating controls.

5. Mistake: evidence assembled only during audits.
   Fix: set recurring evidence capture. The control should “emit artifacts” as part of normal operations. ¹

Enforcement context and risk implications

No public enforcement cases were provided in the supplied source catalog for this safeguard. Practically, safeguard 4.2 reduces:

• Misconfiguration-driven exposure (open management ports, weak admin access paths, permissive ACLs)
• Outage risk from inconsistent changes and weak rollback discipline
• Audit risk from inability to prove controlled operation, even when the network is competently run ¹

For third-party risk management: if a third party manages your network devices (MSP, MSSP, co-managed network provider), you still need evidence that their process meets your safeguard 4.2 expectations. Put baseline ownership, drift reporting, and change-ticket evidence into the contract deliverables.

Practical 30/60/90-day execution plan

Use this plan to get from “informal practice” to “auditable process.”

First 30 days: define and stabilize

• Confirm in-scope network infrastructure and assign a single accountable control owner.
• Draft role-based baselines for the highest-risk devices (firewalls, VPN, internet edge, wireless controllers).
• Decide where baselines live (versioned repository) and how approvals are recorded.
• Update change ticket templates to require validation evidence and rollback planning.

Outputs: scope statement, initial baselines, updated change workflow, first evidence samples. ¹

Days 31–60: implement drift detection and evidence loops

• Turn on/configure drift detection for prioritized devices and ensure results are retained.
• Create the remediation workflow (findings automatically create tickets or are manually logged with consistent fields).
• Stand up the exceptions register and require approvals for any known deviations.
• Run an internal “walkthrough test” on one device: baseline → current state → drift output → ticket → closure.

Outputs: drift reports, remediation tickets, exceptions register, walkthrough evidence pack. ¹

Days 61–90: expand scope and make it routine

• Expand baselines and drift coverage to remaining network infrastructure classes.
• Operationalize recurring control operation: monthly drift review, periodic baseline review, exception renewal reviews.
• Define metrics that are evidence-backed (for example, “open drift items by severity” without publishing unsourced rates).
• If you use Daydream, set safeguard 4.2 evidence tasks on a recurring schedule with owners, due dates, and required artifact types so evidence is collected continuously rather than at audit time.

Outputs: full-scope program, recurring evidence cadence, audit-ready control narrative. ¹

Frequently Asked Questions

Does safeguard 4.2 require a specific CIS Benchmark for my network devices?

CIS v8 safeguard 4.2 requires a secure configuration process for network infrastructure, not a single mandated benchmark in the provided excerpt. Auditors usually accept your baseline if it is documented, approved, testable, and enforced with drift detection. ¹

Are cloud-managed network services in scope (e.g., SD-WAN, cloud firewalls)?

Yes if they function as network infrastructure and their configuration affects traffic control or management-plane exposure. Treat the provider console configuration as the “device config” and apply the same baseline, change control, and drift monitoring concepts. ¹

What’s the minimum evidence set to pass an audit review?

Keep (1) approved baselines, (2) change tickets with approvals and validation proof, and (3) drift reports tied to remediation or exceptions. Assessors usually fail teams that can describe the process but cannot show recurring artifacts. ¹

How do we handle emergency changes without failing the control?

Allow emergency changes, but require documented justification and a post-change review with attached validation evidence. Auditors mainly look for a defined pathway and proof it was followed.

Our network team says configs are “tribal knowledge.” Where do we start?

Start by documenting one baseline for the internet edge and one for internal switching, then enforce that all changes go through tickets with peer review. Add drift detection next so you can prove the baseline is real in production. ¹

How should a CCO/GRC lead test safeguard 4.2 without deep network skills?

Sample a small set of devices and request the same three artifacts each time: the baseline standard, the last relevant change ticket, and the latest drift report. If the team can produce these quickly and they align, the process is operating. ¹

Footnotes

1. CIS Controls v8; CIS Controls Navigator v8