---
title: "Catastrophic-severity override"
description: "The rule that any scenario rated at the top severity level is Critical whatever its likelihood, cannot be accepted by the delivery team, and must be eliminated, reduced in severity or accepted…"
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/catastrophic-severity-override
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-24
---

# Catastrophic-severity override

The rule that any scenario rated at the top severity level is Critical whatever its likelihood, cannot be accepted by the delivery team, and must be eliminated, reduced in severity or accepted explicitly by the governing body for a fixed period. NIST asks that such risks can be ceased safely [1].

- Developed in: [ch. 13, The catastrophic-severity override](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/risk-management#the-catastrophic-severity-override)
- Chapters: [ch. 13, Risk Management](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/risk-management)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-catastrophic-severity-override

## Sources

[1] Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework (AI RMF 1.0), NIST AI 100-1 (risk tolerance and residual risk; seven trustworthy characteristics; transparency answers "what happened", explainability "how", interpretability "why"; MAP 1.1 intended purposes; MANAGE 1.1 go/no-go determination; profiles). NIST. 2023-01-26. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.AI.100-1 (verified: primary)