LimeSurvey

General Information

Technologies must be operated and maintained in accordance with Federal and Department security and privacy policies and guidelines. More information on the proper use of the TRM can be found on the TRM Proper Use Tab/Section.

Website:	Go to site
Description:	LimeSurvey is an on-line survey application. This technology enables users to use a web interface to develop and publish on-line surveys, collect responses, create statistics, and export the resulting data to other applications. There are two editions available for this technology with varying levels of support. The editions include LimeSurvey Pro and the LimeSurvey Community Edition (CE). The Community Edition is the open source edition of this technology. This assessment is for both editions. The TRM decisions in this entry only apply to technologies and versions owned, operated, managed, patched, and version-controlled by VA. This includes technologies deployed as software installations on VMs within VA-controlled cloud environments (e.g. VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC)). Cloud services provided by the VAEC, which are listed in the VAEC Service Catalog, and those controlled and managed by an external Cloud Service Provider (i.e. SaaS) are not in the purview of the TRM. For more information on the use of cloud services and cloud-based products within VA, including VA private clouds, please see the Enterprise Cloud Solutions Office (ECSO) Portal at: https://dvagov.sharepoint.com/sites/OITECSO
Technology/Standard Usage Requirements:	Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.
Section 508 Information:	This technology qualifies for a legally-defined Exception (Back Office) as determined by the Section 508 Office and will not need a 508 assessment prior to being available in the TRM. For additional information or assistance regarding Section 508, please contact the Section 508 Office at Section508@va.gov.
Decision:	View Decisions

Decision Source:	TRM Mgmt Group
Decision Process:	One-VA TRM v23.1
Decision Date:	01/25/2023 at 18:04:23 UTC
Introduced By:	TRM Request
Vendor Name:	The LimeSurvey Project

Vendor Release Information

The Vendor Release table provides the known releases for the TRM Technology, obtained from the vendor (or from the release source).

Version	Release Date	Vendor End of Life Date	Vendor Desupport Date
2.0x	08/12/2015
2.5x	08/23/2016
2.7x	12/19/2017
3.14.x	07/31/2018
3.17.x	07/08/2019
4.1.x
4.2.x
4.3.x	12/23/2019
5.6.x	01/17/2023

Current Decision Matrix (01/20/2023)

Users must ensure their use of this technology/standard is consistent with VA policies and standards, including, but not limited to, VA Handbooks 6102 and 6500; VA Directives 6004, 6513, and 6517; and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards, including Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). Users must ensure sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. Prior to use of this technology, users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Officer (ISO), Facility Chief Information Officer (CIO), or local Office of Information and Technology (OI&T) representative to ensure that all actions are consistent with current VA policies and procedures prior to implementation.

The VA Decision Matrix displays the current and future VA IT position regarding different releases of a TRM entry. These decisions are based upon the best information available as of the most current date. The consumer of this information has the responsibility to consult the organizations responsible for the desktop, testing, and/or production environments to ensure that the target version of the technology will be supported. Any major.minor version that is not listed in the VA Decision Matrix is considered unapproved for use.

Legend:

White	Approved: The technology/standard has been approved for use.
Yellow	Approved w/Constraints: The technology/standard can be used within the specified constraints located below the decision matrix in the footnote[1] and on the General tab.
Gray	Unapproved: This technology or standard can be used only if a POA&M review is conducted and signed by the Authorizing Official Designated Representative (AODR) as designated by the Authorizing Official (AO) or designee and based upon a recommendation from the POA&M Compliance Enforcement, has been granted to the project team or organization that wishes to use the technology.
Orange	Divest: VA has decided to divest itself on the use of the technology/standard. As a result, all projects currently utilizing the technology/standard must plan to eliminate their use of the technology/standard. Additional information on when the entry is projected to become unapproved may be found on the Decision tab for the specific entry.
Black	Prohibited: The technology/standard is not (currently) permitted to be used under any circumstances.
Blue	Planning/Evaluation Constraint:The period of time this technology is currently being evaluated, reviewed, and tested in controlled environments. Use of this technology is strictly controlled and not available for use within the general population. If a customer would like to use this technology, please work with your local or Regional OI&T office and contact the appropriate evaluation office displayed in the notes below the decision matrix. The Local or Regional OI&T office should submit an inquiry to the TRM if they require further assistance or if the evaluating office is not listed in the notes below.

Release/Version Information:

VA decisions for specific versions may include a ‘.x’ wildcard, which denotes a decision that pertains to a range of multiple versions.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 7.x would cover any version of 7.(Anything) - 7.(Anything). However, a 7.4.x decision would cover any version of 7.4.(Anything), but would not cover any version of 7.5.x or 7.6.x on the TRM.

VA decisions for specific versions may include ‘+’ symbols; which denotes that the decision for the version specified also includes versions greater than what is specified but is not to exceed or affect previous decimal places.

For example, a technology approved with a decision for 12.6.4+ would cover any version that is greater than 12.6.4, but would not exceed the .6 decimal ie: 12.6.401 is ok, 12.6.5 is ok, 12.6.9 is ok, however 12.7.0 or 13.0 is not.

<Past

CY2018

CY2019

CY2020

Future>

Release

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

2.0x

Unapproved

2.5x

Divest
[3, 4, 6, 7]

Divest
[3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9]

Unapproved

2.7x

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4, 6, 7]

Divest
[3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9]

Divest
[3, 4, 6, 7, 10]

Unapproved

3.14.x

Unapproved

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9]

Divest
[3, 4, 6, 7, 10]

Divest
[3, 4, 6, 10, 11]

Unapproved

3.17.x

Unapproved

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4, 6, 7, 10]

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4, 6, 10, 11]

Divest
[3, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12]

4.1.x

Unapproved

Divest
[3, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12]

4.2.x

Unapproved

Divest
[3, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12]

4.3.x

Unapproved

Approved w/Constraints
[3, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12]

5.6.x

Unapproved

Decision Constraints


[1]	Per the May 5th, 2015 memorandum from the VA Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) FIPS 140-2 Validate Full Disk Encryption (FOE) for Data at Rest in Database Management Systems (DBMS) and in accordance with Federal requirements and VA policy, database management must use Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant encryption to protect the confidentiality and integrity of VA information at rest at the application level. If FIPS 140-2 encryption at the application level is not technically possible, FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption (FOE) must be implemented on the hard drive where the DBMS resides. Appropriate access enforcement and physical security control must also be implemented. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. It is the responsibility of the system owner to work with the local CIO (or designee) and Information Security Officer (ISO) to ensure that a compliant DBMS technology is selected and that if needed, mitigating controls are in place and documented in a System Security Plan (SSP).

[2]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[3]	Due to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) identified security vulnerabilities, extra vigilance should be applied to ensure the versions remain properly patched to mitigate known and future vulnerabilities. The local ISO can provide assistance in reviewing the NIST vulnerabilities.

[4]	Users should check with their supervisor, Information Security Office (ISO) or local OIT representative for permission to download and use this software. Downloaded software must always be scanned for viruses prior to installation to prevent adware or malware. Freeware may only be downloaded directly from the primary site that the creator of the software has advertised for public download and user or development community engagement. Users should note, any attempt by the installation process to install any additional, unrelated software is not approved and the user should take the proper steps to decline those installations.

[5]	If free trialware is utilized, the software must be purchased or removed at the end of the trial period.

[6]	Veterans Affairs (VA) users must ensure VA sensitive data is properly protected in compliance with all VA regulations. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed by the local ISO (Information Security Officer) to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500.

[7]	Due to potential information security risks, cloud based technologies may not be used without the approval of the Enterprise Cloud Solution Office (ECSO). This body is in part responsible for ensuring organizational information, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI), and VA sensitive data are not compromised. (Ref: VA Directive 6004, VA Directive 6517, VA Directive 6513 and VA Directive 6102).

[8]	This product can be configured with a MySQL Database, which currently has TRM constraints for intranet use only due to its many known security issues. If MySQL is selected for use with this product, these factors should be considered especially when an instance of this product will be considered a Moderate or High Risk system (Refer to MySQL Database TRM entry for more details)

[9]	Per the May 5th, 2015 memorandum from the VA Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) FIPS 140-2 Validate Full Disk Encryption (FOE) for Data at Rest in Database Management Systems (DBMS) and in accordance with Federal requirements and VA policy, database management must use Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) 140-2 compliant encryption to protect the confidentiality and integrity of VA information at rest at the application level. If FIPS 140-2 encryption at the application level is not technically possible, FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption (FOE) must be implemented on the hard drive where the DBMS resides. Appropriate access enforcement and physical security control must also be implemented. All instances of deployment using this technology should be reviewed to ensure compliance with VA Handbook 6500 and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. It is the responsibility of the system owner to work with the local CIO (or designee) and Information Security Officer (ISO) to ensure that a compliant DBMS technology is selected and that if needed, mitigating controls are in place and documented in a System Security Plan (SSP).

[10]	If free trial ware is utilized, the software must be purchased or removed at the end of the trial period.

[11]	Due to potential information security risks for cloud-based technologies, users should coordinate closely with their facility ISSO for guidance and assistance on cloud products. If further guidance is needed contact the Enterprise Cloud Solution Office (ECSO), which is the body responsible for new software development in and migration of existing systems to the VA Enterprise Cloud (VAEC) and ensuring organizational information, Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI), and VA sensitive data are not compromised within the VAEC. For information about Software as a Service (SaaS) products or to submit a SaaS product request with the Project Special Forces (SPF) team, please use their online form. (Ref: VA Directive 6004, VA Directive 6517, VA Directive 6513 and VA Directive 6102).

[12]	If free trial ware is utilized, the software must be purchased or removed at the end of the trial period. Users must ensure that Microsoft Structured Query Language (SQL) Server is implemented with VA-approved baselines. (refer to the ‘Category’ tab under ‘Runtime Dependencies’)

Note:

At the time of writing, version 5.6.0 is the most current version, released 01/17/2023

References

The following reference(s) are associated with this entry:
Type	Name	Source	Description
Vendor Provided*	LImeSuvey Manual		This site links to a manual for this software.
*NOTE: Vendor provided information is subject to the accuracy of the manufacturer.

Technology Components

Note: This list may not be complete. No component, listed or unlisted, may be used outside of the technology in which it is released. The usage decision for a component is found in the Decision and Decision Constraints.
Name	Description
No components have been identified for this entry.

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Domain Area	Category	Customer Guidance	Category Locked By ELT Date
Information Management Technologies Business Intelligence and Data Warehouse Platforms	Data Analytics (Statistical Analysis, Prediction, and Modeling)

Open Source

This entry is available as an open source technology.

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Client - Approved w/Constraints
Windows Server - Approved w/Constraints

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

This is a well-documented technology.
This technology is available at no cost through open-source licensing and supports VA`s open source initiative.
This technology can improve the productivity of users who need to perform surveys and analyze data.

Adoption Risks

There are known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) associated with this technology. Please see https://nvd.NIST.gov/vuln/search for more details.
The potential exists to store Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Protected Health Information (PHI) and/or VA Sensitive data and proper security standards must be followed in these cases.
Due to the rapid release schedule of this technology, the VA may be unable to update to the most recent patch and may require a deployment model requiring the use of specific versions.
This software has a free trial period, which carries the potential for the disruption of service delivery and inaccurate financial planning.
System scans indicate that this technology is no longer in use within the VA network.
This product can be configured with a PostgreSQL Database, which currently has TRM constraints limiting its use to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) only due to its many known security issues on other platforms.
This product can be configured with a MySQL Commercial Edition Database, which currently has TRM constraints limiting its use to Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) only due to its many known security issues on other platforms.
Microsoft Internet Explorer, a dependency of this technology, is in End-of-Life status and must no longer be used.
This technology can potentially use File Transfer Protocol (FTP), an unapproved protocol.
This technology is available as freeware. If commercial support is not purchased, the product will be without clearly defined support options which may result in suboptimal enterprise level support.
This technology can integrate with and alter database technologies.
This technology can potentially use Zlib, Memcached and Opera all unapproved technologies

Architectural Benefits

This technology is portable as it runs on multiple TRM-approved operating systems.

Architectural Risks

This technology does not use a VA-preferred database to store data.
This product includes cloud-based functionality which has potential information security risks.

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VA Technical Reference Model v 24.7

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (01/20/2023)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Open Source

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

Architectural Risks

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VA Technical Reference Model v 24.7

General Information

Vendor Release Information

Current Decision Matrix (01/20/2023)

Decision Constraints

References

Technology Components

VA Categories View the VA Categorization Framework

Open Source

Operating Systems Supported by the Technology

Technologies/Standards Relationships

Runtime Dependencies:

Comparable Technologies:

Companion Technologies/Supported Standards:

General Analysis

Adoption Benefits

Adoption Risks

Architectural Benefits

Architectural Risks

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