AC-3: Access Enforcement
Control Family:
Threats Addressed:
Baselines:
- Low
- AC-3
- Moderate
- AC-3
- High
- AC-3
- Privacy
Previous Version:
- NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 4:
- AC-3: Access Enforcement
Control Statement
Enforce approved authorizations for logical access to information and system resources in accordance with applicable access control policies.
Supplemental Guidance
Access control policies control access between active entities or subjects (i.e., users or processes acting on behalf of users) and passive entities or objects (i.e., devices, files, records, domains) in organizational systems. In addition to enforcing authorized access at the system level and recognizing that systems can host many applications and services in support of mission and business functions, access enforcement mechanisms can also be employed at the application and service level to provide increased information security and privacy. In contrast to logical access controls that are implemented within the system, physical access controls are addressed by the controls in the Physical and Environmental Protection (PE) family.
Control Enhancements
AC-3(2): Dual Authorization
Baseline(s):
Enforce dual authorization for [Assignment: organization-defined privileged commands and/or other organization-defined actions].
AC-3(3): Mandatory Access Control
Baseline(s):
Enforce [Assignment: organization-defined mandatory access control policy] over the set of covered subjects and objects specified in the policy, and where the policy: Is uniformly enforced across the covered subjects and objects within the system; Specifies that a subject that has been granted access to information is constrained from doing any of the following; Passing…
AC-3(4): Discretionary Access Control
Baseline(s):
Enforce [Assignment: organization-defined discretionary access control policy] over the set of covered subjects and objects specified in the policy, and where the policy specifies that a subject that has been granted access to information can do one or more of the following: Pass the information to any other subjects or objects; Grant its privileges to…
AC-3(5): Security-relevant Information
Baseline(s):
Prevent access to [Assignment: organization-defined security-relevant information] except during secure, non-operable system states.
AC-3(7): Role-based Access Control
Baseline(s):
Enforce a role-based access control policy over defined subjects and objects and control access based upon [Assignment: organization-defined roles and users authorized to assume such roles].
AC-3(8): Revocation of Access Authorizations
Baseline(s):
Enforce the revocation of access authorizations resulting from changes to the security attributes of subjects and objects based on [Assignment: organization-defined rules governing the timing of revocations of access authorizations].
AC-3(9): Controlled Release
Baseline(s):
Release information outside of the system only if: The receiving [Assignment: organization-defined system or system component] provides [Assignment: organization-defined controls]; and [Assignment: organization-defined controls] are used to validate the appropriateness of the information designated for release.
AC-3(10): Audited Override of Access Control Mechanisms
Baseline(s):
Employ an audited override of automated access control mechanisms under [Assignment: organization-defined conditions] by [Assignment: organization-defined roles].
AC-3(11): Restrict Access to Specific Information Types
Baseline(s):
Restrict access to data repositories containing [Assignment: organization-defined information types].
AC-3(12): Assert and Enforce Application Access
Baseline(s):
Require applications to assert, as part of the installation process, the access needed to the following system applications and functions: [Assignment: organization-defined system applications and functions]; Provide an enforcement mechanism to prevent unauthorized access; and Approve access changes after initial installation of the application.
AC-3(13): Attribute-based Access Control
Baseline(s):
Enforce attribute-based access control policy over defined subjects and objects and control access based upon [Assignment: organization-defined attributes to assume access permissions].
AC-3(14): Individual Access
Baseline(s):
- Privacy
Provide [Assignment: organization-defined mechanisms] to enable individuals to have access to the following elements of their personally identifiable information: [Assignment: organization-defined elements].
AC-3(15): Discretionary and Mandatory Access Control
Baseline(s):
Enforce [Assignment: organization-defined mandatory access control policy] over the set of covered subjects and objects specified in the policy; and Enforce [Assignment: organization-defined discretionary access control policy] over the set of covered subjects and objects specified in the policy.