SA 3 System Development Life Cycle

---
name: "SA-3_system-development-life-cycle"
description: "Acquire, develop, and manage the system using [organization-defined] that incorporates information security and privacy considerations;"
category: "configuration"
version: "5.2.0"
author: "cyberstrike-official"
tags:
  - nist
  - sp800-53
  - rev5
  - sa-3
  - sa
tech_stack:
  - any
cwe_ids:
  - CWE-16
chains_with:
  - AT-3
  - PL-8
  - PM-7
  - SA-4
  - SA-5
  - SA-8
  - SA-11
  - SA-15
  - SA-17
  - SA-22
prerequisites: []
severity_boost:
  AT-3: "Chain with AT-3 for comprehensive security coverage"
  PL-8: "Chain with PL-8 for comprehensive security coverage"
  PM-7: "Chain with PM-7 for comprehensive security coverage"
---

# SA-3 System Development Life Cycle

## High-Level Description

**Family:** System and Services Acquisition (SA)
**Framework:** NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5

A system development life cycle process provides the foundation for the successful development, implementation, and operation of organizational systems. The integration of security and privacy considerations early in the system development life cycle is a foundational principle of systems security engineering and privacy engineering. To apply the required controls within the system development life cycle requires a basic understanding of information security and privacy, threats, vulnerabilities, adverse impacts, and risk to critical mission and business functions. The security engineering principles in [SA-8](#sa-8) help individuals properly design, code, and test systems and system components. Organizations include qualified personnel (e.g., senior agency information security officers, senior agency officials for privacy, security and privacy architects, and security and privacy engineers) in system development life cycle processes to ensure that established security and privacy requirements are incorporated into organizational systems. Role-based security and privacy training programs can ensure that individuals with key security and privacy roles and responsibilities have the experience, skills, and expertise to conduct assigned system development life cycle activities.

The effective integration of security and privacy requirements into enterprise architecture also helps to ensure that important security and privacy considerations are addressed throughout the system life cycle and that those considerations are directly related to organizational mission and business processes. This process also facilitates the integration of the information security and privacy architectures into the enterprise architecture, consistent with the risk management strategy of the organization. Because the system development life cycle involves multiple organizations, (e.g., external suppliers, developers, integrators, service providers), acquisition and supply chain risk management functions and controls play significant roles in the effective management of the system during the life cycle.

## What to Check

- [ ] Verify SA-3 System Development Life Cycle is documented in SSP
- [ ] Validate all 4 control requirements are implemented
- [ ] Confirm control is operating effectively
- [ ] Review evidence of continuous monitoring for SA-3

## How to Test

### Step 1: Review Documentation

Examine the System Security Plan (SSP) and related artifacts for SA-3 implementation details. Verify the organization has documented how this control is satisfied.

### Step 2: Validate Implementation

```
# For cloud environments, use cloud-audit-mcp tools
# For on-premises, review system configurations directly

# Example: Check if account management policies exist
grep -r "account.management\|access.control" /etc/security/ 2>/dev/null
```

### Step 3: Test Operating Effectiveness

Verify the control is actively functioning, not just documented. Check logs, configurations, and operational evidence.

## Tools

| Tool          | Purpose                           | Usage |
| ------------- | --------------------------------- | ----- |
| Manual Review | Documentation and interview-based | N/A   |

## Remediation Guide

### Control Statement

Acquire, develop, and manage the system using [organization-defined] that incorporates information security and privacy considerations;
Define and document information security and privacy roles and responsibilities throughout the system development life cycle;
Identify individuals having information security and privacy roles and responsibilities; and
Integrate the organizational information security and privacy risk management process into system development life cycle activities.

### Implementation Guidance

A system development life cycle process provides the foundation for the successful development, implementation, and operation of organizational systems. The integration of security and privacy considerations early in the system development life cycle is a foundational principle of systems security engineering and privacy engineering. To apply the required controls within the system development life cycle requires a basic understanding of information security and privacy, threats, vulnerabilities, adverse impacts, and risk to critical mission and business functions. The security engineering principles in [SA-8](#sa-8) help individuals properly design, code, and test systems and system components. Organizations include qualified personnel (e.g., senior agency information security officers, senior agency officials for privacy, security and privacy architects, and security and privacy engineers) in system development life cycle processes to ensure that established security and privacy requirements are incorporated into organizational systems. Role-based security and privacy training programs can ensure that individuals with key security and privacy roles and responsibilities have the experience, skills, and expertise to conduct assigned system development life cycle activities.

The effective integration of security and privacy requirements into enterprise architecture also helps to ensure that important security and privacy considerations are addressed throughout the system life cycle and that those considerations are directly related to organizational mission and business processes. This process also facilitates the integration of the information security and privacy architectures into the enterprise architecture, consistent with the risk management strategy of the organization. Because the system development life cycle involves multiple organizations, (e.g., external suppliers, developers, integrators, service providers), acquisition and supply chain risk management functions and controls play significant roles in the effective management of the system during the life cycle.

## Risk Assessment

| Finding                                            | Severity | Impact                                     |
| -------------------------------------------------- | -------- | ------------------------------------------ |
| SA-3 System Development Life Cycle not implemented | Medium   | System and Services Acquisition            |
| SA-3 partially implemented                         | Low      | Incomplete System and Services Acquisition |

## CWE Categories

| CWE ID | Title         |
| ------ | ------------- |
| CWE-16 | Configuration |

## References

- [NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 - SA-3](https://csrc.nist.gov/projects/cprt/catalog#/cprt/framework/version/SP_800_53_5_1_1/home?element=sa-3)
- [NIST SP 800-53A Rev 5 (Assessment Procedures)](https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/53/a/r5/final)
- [NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 Full Catalog](https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/53/r5/upd1/final)

## Checklist

- [ ] Control documented in SSP
- [ ] Implementation evidence collected
- [ ] Operating effectiveness validated
- [ ] Continuous monitoring in place
- [ ] Related controls (AT-3, PL-8, PM-7, SA-4, SA-5) reviewed