SC-45 — System Time Synchronization
Time synchronization of system clocks is essential for the correct execution of many system services, including identification and authentication processes that involve certificates and time-of-day restrictions as part of access control. Denial of service or failure to deny expired credentials may result without properly synchronized clocks within and between systems and system components. Time is commonly expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), a modern continuation of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or local time with an offset from UTC. The granularity of time measurements refers to the degree of synchronization between system clocks and reference clocks, such as clocks synchronizing within hundreds of milliseconds or tens of milliseconds. Organizations may define different time granularities for system components. Time service can be critical to other security capabilities—such a
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NIST CSF 2.0 informative references
These CSF Subcategories list this base control or one of its enhancements in the imported NIST informative reference.
NIST SP 800-171 and SP 800-172
SP 800-171 requirements sourcing this control
SP 800-172 enhanced requirements sourcing this control
MITRE D3FEND techniques
MITRE ATT&CK relationships
Curated mitigation mappings
Inferred behavior relationships
Experimental: These relationships are inferred through D3FEND and must be validated against architecture, telemetry, and threat context.
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A CSF informative reference is not an equivalence statement. A source-control relationship is not proof of implementation. A D3FEND semantic relationship is not a product claim. An inferred ATT&CK link is a hypothesis for engineering analysis.
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