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NIST SP 800-171 CUI Protection Center

03.07.05 — Nonlocal Maintenance

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.

1Source controls
6Assessment objectives
3Assessment methods

03.07 — Maintenance · NIST SP 800-171 Revision 3

Active
Official NIST requirement content

Security requirement

  1. a.Approve and monitor nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities.
  2. b.Implement multi-factor authentication and replay resistance in the establishment of nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions.
  3. c.Terminate session and network connections when nonlocal maintenance is completed.
Official NIST discussion

Discussion

Nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities are conducted by individuals who communicate through an external or internal network. Local maintenance and diagnostic activities are carried out by individuals who are physically present at the location of the system and not communicating across a network connection. Authentication techniques used to establish nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions reflect the requirements in 03.05.01.

Bare Metal Cyber interpretation

Implementation perspective

Treat Nonlocal Maintenance as a CUI protection outcome that must be reflected in the system boundary, documented implementation, operational behavior, and assessment evidence. Pay particular attention to authorized maintenance, trusted tools, controlled support access, and protection of CUI during repair or servicing.

  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

  • maintenance schedules and tickets
  • tool approval records
  • remote maintenance session logs
  • maintenance personnel authorization

Common failure patterns

  • vendor access left enabled permanently
  • unapproved diagnostic tools introduced
  • maintenance bypassing change control
  • remote sessions not monitored or terminated
Official NIST SP 800-171A content

Assessment objectives and methods

Assessment objectives (6)
  1. a.

    nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities are approved.

  2. a.

    nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities are monitored.

  3. c.

    session connections are terminated when nonlocal maintenance is completed.

  4. c.

    network connections are terminated when nonlocal maintenance is completed.

  5. b.

    multi-factor authentication is implemented in the establishment of nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions.

  6. b.

    replay resistance is implemented in the establishment of nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions.

Examine

  • maintenance policy and procedures
  • remote access policy and procedures
  • procedures for nonlocal system maintenance
  • records of remote access
  • maintenance records
  • diagnostic records
  • system design documentation
  • system configuration settings
  • system security plan
  • other relevant documents or records

Interview

  • personnel with system maintenance responsibilities
  • personnel with information security responsibilities
  • system administrators

Test

  • processes for managing nonlocal maintenance
  • mechanisms for implementing, supporting, or managing nonlocal maintenance
  • mechanisms for implementing multi-factor authentication and replay resistance
  • mechanisms for terminating nonlocal maintenance sessions and network connections
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 controlMA-4Open 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.