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mSCP

What Are Baselines?

A baseline is a YAML file that defines which security rules apply to your environment. Each baseline maps to a compliance framework (NIST 800-53, CIS Benchmarks, DISA STIG, etc.) and includes all the rules needed to meet that framework’s requirements.

Once you have a baseline, the project scripts use it to generate everything you need: guidance documents, configuration profiles, compliance scripts, and more.

How Baselines Work

Section titled “How Baselines Work”
  1. Choose a framework — Pick the compliance standard you need (NIST, CIS, STIG, etc.)
  2. Generate the baseline — Run ./mscp.py baseline -k BASELINE_NAME to create the YAML file
  3. Customize if needed — Tailor the baseline to your organization’s requirements
  4. Generate outputs — Use the baseline to create profiles, scripts, and documentation

Each baseline is specific to an operating system (macOS, iOS/iPadOS, or visionOS) and compliance level (High, Moderate, Low, or Level 1/2 depending on the framework).

Available Baselines

Section titled “Available Baselines”

Government Frameworks

Section titled “Government Frameworks”
Framework Baseline Files
NIST 800-53 Rev 5 800-53r5_high, 800-53r5_moderate, 800-53r5_low, 800-53r5_privacy
NIST 800-171 800-171
DISA STIG macOS: disa_stig
iOS: ios_stig
CMMC 2.0 cmmc_lvl1, cmmc_lvl2
CNSSI 1253 cnssi-1253_high, cnssi-1253_moderate, cnssi-1253_low
NLM APGOV nlmapgov_base, nlmapgov_plus

Industry Frameworks

Section titled “Industry Frameworks”
Framework Baseline Files
CIS Benchmarks (macOS) cis_lvl1, cis_lvl2
CIS Benchmarks (iOS) cis_lvl1_byod, cis_lvl2_byod
cis_lvl1_enterprise, cis_lvl2_enterprise
CIS Controls v8 cisv8

International

Section titled “International”
Framework Baseline Files
Indigo (iOS only) indigo_base, indigo_high

List Available Baselines

Section titled “List Available Baselines”
Terminal window
./mscp.py baseline -l

Example output:

Available keywords (tags and benchmarks):


Tags (applicable to all platforms):
  800-171
  800-53r5_high
  800-53r5_low
  800-53r5_moderate
  800-53r5_privacy
  cisv8
  cmmc_lvl1
  cmmc_lvl2
  cnssi-1253_high
  cnssi-1253_low
  cnssi-1253_moderate
  all_rules


Benchmarks (platform-specific):
  cis_lvl1 (Platforms: macOS)
  cis_lvl2 (Platforms: macOS)
  disa_stig (Platforms: macOS)
  nlmapgov_plus (Platforms: macOS)

Key Concepts

Section titled “Key Concepts”
Concept Description
Purpose Define what security settings your systems should have
Customization Tailor baselines to fit your organization’s specific needs
Auditing Provide evidence that systems meet compliance standards
Automation Scripts can check and fix settings automatically
Maintenance Updated with each macOS release and when frameworks change

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”