SI-11 SI · System and Information Integrity

Error Handling

LOW ✓ MODERATE ✓ HIGH
1 Overlay 5 Related Controls
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Requirements NIST SOURCE

Discussion (NIST Supplemental Guidance)

Organizations consider the structure and content of error messages. The extent to which systems can handle error conditions is guided and informed by organizational policy and operational requirements. Exploitable information includes stack traces and implementation details; erroneous logon attempts with passwords mistakenly entered as the username; mission or business information that can be derived from, if not stated explicitly by, the information recorded; and personally identifiable information, such as account numbers, social security numbers, and credit card numbers. Error messages may also provide a covert channel for transmitting information.

Implementation Guidance

Engineering Interpretation

Original engineering commentary written for this explorer — not NIST source text and not authoritative guidance.

No engineering interpretation has been authored for SI-11 yet. This section is architected to receive it — see the Requirements and Assessment sections above for the authoritative NIST source content in the meantime.

Assessment

NIST SP 800-53A REV 5.2.0

Assessment Objectives

  1. personnel or roles to whom error messages are to be revealed is/are defined;
  2. error messages that provide the information necessary for corrective actions are generated without revealing information that could be exploited;
  3. error messages are revealed only to <SI-11_ODP personnel or roles>.

Examine

[SELECT FROM: System and information integrity policy; system and information integrity procedures; procedures addressing system error handling; system design documentation; system configuration settings and associated documentation; documentation providing the structure and content of error messages; system audit records; system security plan; other relevant documents or records].

Interview

[SELECT FROM: Organizational personnel responsible for information input validation; organizational personnel with information security responsibilities; system/network administrators; system developer].

Test

[SELECT FROM: Organizational processes for error handling; automated mechanisms supporting and/or implementing error handling; automated mechanisms supporting and/or implementing the management of error messages].

Overlays

OT/ICS Overlay SP 800-82r3

NIST SP 800-82r3 Appendix F, Table 22. Blank baseline means the control/control enhancement is not selected in that initial OT baseline.

LOW

Not applicable at this tier.

MODERATE

  • Base control: Included (matches standard baseline)

HIGH

  • Base control: Included (matches standard baseline)

STIGs & CCIs

No STIG checks or CCI mappings are currently loaded for SI-11. This section is architected to display, per product: STIG ID, Finding ID, Severity, Title, Description, Check, Fix, CCI, and NIST control mapping — but nothing is populated here until a real DISA STIG/CCI dataset is ingested.

Learn more about STIG/CCI integration →

Evidence

Potential Evidence — Derived

Categorized from the SP 800-53A "Examine"/"Test" artifact list above by keyword — not an authoritative NIST evidence list.

Policy

  • System and information integrity policy
  • system security plan

Configuration

  • system design documentation
  • system configuration settings and associated documentation

Testing

  • Organizational processes for error handling
  • automated mechanisms supporting and/or implementing error handling
  • automated mechanisms supporting and/or implementing the management of error messages

Other Records

  • system and information integrity procedures
  • procedures addressing system error handling
  • documentation providing the structure and content of error messages
  • system audit records
  • other relevant documents or records