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NIST 800-171 R-3.4.1

Establish Baseline Configurations and Inventory

Official citation: 3.4.1

Class: core · Severity: high

Statement of the obligation — verify against source

3.4.1

What it means

Establish and maintain documented, approved baseline configurations and inventories for your systems — hardware, software, firmware, and documentation — throughout their life cycle. Baselines record installed components, version and patch levels, configuration settings, and network placement, and serve as the basis for future builds and changes. Keep inventories accurate (with details like owner, model, serial number, machine name, and network address) and create new baselines as systems change.

Educational reference only — not legal advice. Consult a qualified assessor or attorney for binding compliance determinations.