Update Malicious Code Protection
Update malicious code protection mechanisms when new releases are available.
What gets scored, the objectives
SI.L2-3.14.4 is met only when every one of these 1 objectives, from NIST SP 800-171A, is satisfied. A single missed objective makes the whole requirement not met.
- a.malicious code protection mechanisms are updated when new releases are available
How this is assessed
NIST SP 800-171A defines three assessment methods. For SI.L2-3.14.4, whoever assesses it, including your own team in a self assessment, uses these:
System and information integrity policy; configuration management policy and procedures; procedures addressing malicious code protection; malicious code protection mechanisms; records of malicious code protection updates; system security plan; system design documentation; system configuration settings and associated documentation; scan results from malicious code protection mechanisms; record of actions initiated by malicious code protection mechanisms in response to malicious code detection; system audit logs and records; other relevant documents or records
System or network administrators; personnel with information security responsibilities; personnel installing, configuring, and maintaining the system; personnel with responsibility for malicious code protection; personnel with configuration management responsibility
Organizational processes for employing, updating, and configuring malicious code protection mechanisms; organizational process for addressing false positives and resulting potential impact; mechanisms supporting or implementing malicious code protection mechanisms (including updates and configurations); mechanisms supporting or implementing malicious code scanning and subsequent actions
What it means, in context
Malicious code protection mechanisms include anti-virus signature definitions and reputation-based technologies . A variety of technologies and methods exist to limit or eliminate the effects of malicious code. Pervasive configuration management and comprehensive software integrity controls may be effective in preventing execution of unauthorized code. In addition to commercial off-the-shelf software, malicious code may also be present in custom-built software. This could include logic bombs, back doors, and other types of cyber-attacks that could affect organizational missions/business functions . Traditional malicious code protection mechanisms cannot always detect such code. In these situations, organizations rely instead on other safeguards including secure coding practices, configuration management and control, trusted procurement processes, and monitoring technologies to help ensure that software does not perform functions other than the functions intended.
Malware changes on an hourly or daily basis, and it is important to update detection and protection mechanisms frequently to maintain the effectiveness of the protection. Example You have installed anti-malware software to protect a computer from malicious code. Knowing that malware evolves rapidly, you configure the software to automatically check for malware definition updates every day and update as needed [a].
What passing evidence looks like
Malware protection updating itself: the definitions current timestamp from the console, with automatic updates on.
Common ways contractors fail SI.L2-3.14.4
- !The evidence is a timestamp: definitions updated today or yesterday across the fleet. A machine showing definitions from last month is the finding walking.
The step by step walkthrough for Microsoft 365 GCC High, Google Workspace, and on premises setups, plus the exact evidence to capture, lives inside the CMMC Level 2 plan.
Prove SI.L2-3.14.4, and the other 109
The Level 2 workspace walks your team through all 110 requirements at the objective level, drafts your SSP section by section from your own record for your team to read and accept, gives a prime or your own internal auditor a read only seat on the same record, and a credentialed officer reviews every step.
Book a free advisory callNo credit card, and Level 1 and Level 2 are both open, so sign up for the level your contracts call for. Self assessed and self attested: you score yourself in SPRS on a three year cycle and your senior official affirms it every year. As of September 3, 2026 a class deviation directs contracting officers to remove third party assessment from contracts. The program rule still provides for it, so your solicitation sets the track. Your team builds the same evidence either way. DFARS 252.204-7012 is unaffected, and the NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2 baseline is unchanged.
SI.L2-3.14.4 questions, answered
How many points is CMMC requirement SI.L2-3.14.4 worth?+
SI.L2-3.14.4 is worth 5 points in the CMMC Level 2 score under 32 CFR 170.24. If it is not met, you lose 5 from your total of 110.
Can SI.L2-3.14.4 be placed on a POA&M?+
No. SI.L2-3.14.4 must be fully met before you can file. It cannot be deferred to a POA&M, so it is a gate on your assessment.
What family does SI.L2-3.14.4 belong to?+
SI.L2-3.14.4 is in the System & Information Integrity (SI) family, one of the 14 families of NIST SP 800-171 that make up CMMC Level 2.
- NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 3.14.4
- FAR Clause 52.204-21 b.1.xiv