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NIST SP 800-171 CUI Protection Center

03.13.10 — Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management

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
1Source controls
2Assessment objectives
3Assessment methods

03.13 — System and Communications Protection · NIST SP 800-171 Revision 3

Active
Official NIST requirement content

Security requirement

Establish and manage cryptographic keys in the system in accordance with the following key management requirements: [Organization-defined: requirements].

Official NIST discussion

Discussion

Cryptographic keys can be established and managed using either manual procedures or automated mechanisms supported by manual procedures. Organizations satisfy key establishment and management requirements in accordance with applicable federal laws, Executive Orders, policies, directives, regulations, and standards that specify appropriate options, levels, and parameters. This requirement is related to 03.13.11.

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.

requirementsorganization-defined requirements for key generation, distribution, storage, access, and destructionrequirements for key generation, distribution, storage, access, and destruction are defined.
Bare Metal Cyber interpretation

Implementation perspective

Treat Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management as a CUI protection outcome that must be reflected in the system boundary, documented implementation, operational behavior, and assessment evidence. Pay particular attention to secure architecture, boundary protection, communications security, cryptography, and isolation of CUI processing.

  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

  • network and trust-boundary diagrams
  • firewall and gateway configurations
  • cryptographic configuration and key records
  • segmentation and isolation test results

Common failure patterns

  • diagrams omitting cloud and third-party paths
  • encryption enabled without key governance
  • flat trust zones permitting unnecessary lateral movement
  • boundary rules accumulating without owner review
Official NIST SP 800-171A content

Assessment objectives and methods

Assessment objectives (2)
  1. SR-03.13.10.

    cryptographic keys are established in the system in accordance with the following key management requirements: [Organization-defined: requirements].

  2. SR-03.13.10.

    cryptographic keys are managed in the system in accordance with the following key management requirements: [Organization-defined: requirements].

Examine

  • system and communications protection policy and procedures
  • procedures for cryptographic key establishment and management
  • system design documentation
  • system configuration settings
  • cryptographic mechanisms
  • system audit records
  • system security plan
  • other relevant documents or records

Interview

  • personnel with responsibilities for cryptographic key establishment or management
  • personnel with information security responsibilities
  • system administrators

Test

  • mechanisms for supporting or implementing cryptographic key establishment and management
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 controlSC-12Open 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.