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NIST SP 800-171 CUI Protection Center

03.01.06 — Least Privilege – Privileged Accounts

Read the official CUI requirement and assessment content, then use the separately labeled Bare Metal Cyber perspective to connect it to implementation, evidence, and sustained operation.

1Parameters
2Source controls
2Assessment objectives
3Assessment methods

03.01 — Access Control · NIST SP 800-171 Revision 3

Active
Official NIST requirement content

Security requirement

  1. a.Restrict privileged accounts on the system to [Organization-defined: personnel or roles]..
  2. b.Require that users (or roles) with privileged accounts use non-privileged accounts when accessing non-security functions or non-security information.
Official NIST discussion

Discussion

Privileged accounts refer to accounts that are granted elevated privileges to access resources (including security functions or security-relevant information) that are otherwise restricted for non-privileged accounts. These accounts are typically described as system administrator or super user accounts. For example, a privileged account is often required in order to perform privileged functions such as executing commands that could modify system behavior. Restricting privileged accounts to specific personnel or roles ensures that only those authorized users can access and manipulate security functions or security-relevant information. Requiring the use of non-privileged accounts when such access is not needed can limit unauthorized access to and manipulation of security functions or security-relevant information.

Official organization-defined parameters

Tailoring decisions required

Resolve these values through the governing organization’s approved tailoring and risk-management process before declaring the requirement implemented.

personnel or rolesorganization-defined personnel or rolespersonnel or roles to which privileged accounts on the system are to be restricted are defined.
Bare Metal Cyber interpretation

Implementation perspective

Treat Least Privilege – Privileged Accounts as a CUI protection outcome that must be reflected in the system boundary, documented implementation, operational behavior, and assessment evidence. Pay particular attention to approved identities, least privilege, remote access, information flow, and the full account lifecycle.

  1. Confirm the requirement is in scope for the CUI system components, services, users, and external connections being assessed.
  2. Resolve every organization-defined parameter through an approved governance and tailoring process.
  3. Map each clause of the requirement to an accountable owner, implementation mechanism, and evidence source.
  4. Verify that inherited and shared implementations are supported by current provider evidence and responsibility boundaries.
  5. Collect evidence during normal operation and review changes, exceptions, and deficiencies on a risk-based cadence.

Questions to ask

  • Which CUI assets, data flows, users, and services are protected by this requirement?
  • Which portions are implemented locally, inherited, shared, or not applicable, and what evidence supports that determination?
  • Do the system security plan, deployed configuration, operating process, and assessment evidence tell the same story?
  • What change, incident, or threshold should trigger reassessment?

Evidence and validation

  • access authorization and approval records
  • account inventories and entitlement exports
  • access review results
  • authentication and authorization logs

Common failure patterns

  • CUI access that exceeds mission need
  • shared or orphaned accounts
  • remote access paths outside the approved boundary
  • access reviews that cannot be reconciled to deployed permissions
Official NIST SP 800-171A content

Assessment objectives and methods

Assessment objectives (2)
  1. a.

    privileged accounts on the system are restricted to [Organization-defined: personnel or roles].

  2. b.

    users (or roles) with privileged accounts are required to use non-privileged accounts when accessing non-security functions or non-security information.

Examine

  • access control policy and procedures
  • procedures for least privilege
  • list of system-generated privileged accounts
  • list of system administration personnel
  • system audit records
  • system configuration settings
  • system security plan
  • list of system-generated security functions or security-relevant information assigned to system accounts or roles
  • other relevant documents or records

Interview

  • personnel with responsibilities for defining least privileges
  • personnel with information security responsibilities
  • system administrators

Test

  • mechanisms for implementing least privilege functions
Official source-control relationships

Source NIST SP 800-53 controls

These controls are referenced by the official SP 800-171 Rev. 3 OSCAL record. Open the corresponding control pages for complete control text, enhancements, D3FEND mappings, and related learning.

Source controlAC-6(2)Open SP 800-53 control →Source controlAC-6(5)Open SP 800-53 control →
Source record

Authoritative sources

Bare Metal Cyber is an independent educational publisher and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NIST. The official publications, the responsible federal agency, and the governing contract or agreement determine applicability, tailoring, assessment depth, and required implementation.