SC-39 ยท Process Isolation

Control Description

Maintain a separate execution domain for each executing system process.

Impact Baselines
Security baselines where this control applies
Not in any baseline
Control Properties
SP800-53
system
Assurance
Control Statement
The control requirements

Maintain a separate execution domain for each executing system process.

Supplemental Guidance

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.

Related NIST Controls
Other NIST 800-53 controls related to this one