A technician needs to apply a high-priority patch to a production system. Which of the following steps should be taken first?

Creating a change control request is the essential first step before applying a high-priority patch to a production system. This process ensures that all changes are documented, reviewed, and approved, minimizing potential risks and disruptions. It allows for impact assessment, scheduling, and rollback planning, which are critical in a production environment. Applying the patch directly without approval (applying the patch to the system) bypasses crucial organizational procedures and can lead to unforeseen issues or system instability. Air gapping the system or moving it to a different network segment are security measures that might be part of a larger patching strategy, but they are not the initial procedural step for authorizing the change itself.