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NIST SP 800-172 Enhanced CUI Protection Center

03.01.09E — Attribute-Based Access Control

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
3Assessment objectives
3Assessment methods

03.01 — Access Control · NIST SP 800-172 Revision 3

Active
Official NIST requirement content

Security requirement

  1. a.Enforce attribute-based access control policy over defined subjects and objects.
  2. b.Control access based upon [Organization-defined: attributes].
Official NIST discussion

Discussion

Attribute-based access control is an access control policy that restricts system access to authorized users based on specified organizational attributes (e.g., job function, role, identity), action attributes (e.g., read, write, delete), environmental attributes (e.g., time of day, location), and resource attributes (e.g., document classification). Organizations can create rules based on specified attributes and the authorizations (i.e., privileges) to perform needed operations on the systems associated with organization-defined attributes and rules. When users are assigned to attributes defined in attribute-based access control policies or rules, they can be provisioned to a system with the appropriate privileges or dynamically granted access to a protected resource. Attribute-based access control can be implemented as either a mandatory or discretionary form of access control. This requirement enhances SP 800-171 requirement 03.01.02.

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.

attributesorganization-defined attributes to assume access permissionsattributes to assume access permissions are defined.
Official protection strategy classifications

Protection strategies supported

These classifications are carried from the official SP 800-172 OSCAL record and help explain the enhanced requirement’s defensive purpose.

PS-PRAPenetration-Resistant Architecture
Bare Metal Cyber interpretation

Implementation perspective

Treat Attribute-Based Access Control as an enhanced CUI protection outcome for elevated threat conditions 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 federal agency selected this enhanced requirement for the critical program or high-value asset and identify the CUI system components, services, users, and external connections in scope.
  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 critical-program or high-value-asset CUI, data flows, users, and services are protected by this enhanced 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 800-172A content

Assessment objectives and methods

Assessment objectives (3)
  1. a.

    the attribute-based access control policy is enforced over defined subjects.

  2. a.

    the attribute-based access control policy is enforced over defined objects.

  3. b.

    access is controlled based upon [Organization-defined: attributes].

Examine

  • Access control policy
  • procedures addressing access enforcement
  • system design documentation
  • system configuration settings and associated documentation
  • list of subjects and objects (i.e., users and resources) requiring enforcement of attribute-based access control policies
  • system audit records
  • system security plan
  • other relevant documents or records

Interview

  • Personnel with access enforcement responsibilities
  • system/network administrators
  • personnel with information security responsibilities

Test

  • Mechanisms implementing access enforcement functions
Official source-control relationships

Source NIST SP 800-53 controls

These controls are referenced by the official SP 800-172 Rev. 3 OSCAL record. Open the corresponding control pages for complete control text, enhancements, D3FEND mappings, and related learning.

Source controlAC-3(13)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.