AC-6: Least Privilege

Control Family:

Access Control

CSF v1.1 References:

PF v1.0 References:

Threats Addressed:

Baselines:

Previous Version:

Control Statement

Employ the principle of least privilege, allowing only authorized accesses for users (or processes acting on behalf of users) that are necessary to accomplish assigned organizational tasks.

Supplemental Guidance

Organizations employ least privilege for specific duties and systems. The principle of least privilege is also applied to system processes, ensuring that the processes have access to systems and operate at privilege levels no higher than necessary to accomplish organizational missions or business functions. Organizations consider the creation of additional processes, roles, and accounts as necessary to achieve least privilege. Organizations apply least privilege to the development, implementation, and operation of organizational systems.

Control Enhancements

AC-6(1): Authorize Access to Security Functions

Baseline(s):

  • Moderate
  • High

Authorize access for [Assignment: organization-defined individuals or roles] to: [Assignment: organization-defined security functions (deployed in hardware, software, and firmware)]; and [Assignment: organization-defined security-relevant information].

AC-6(2): Non-privileged Access for Nonsecurity Functions

Baseline(s):

  • Moderate
  • High

Require that users of system accounts (or roles) with access to [Assignment: organization-defined security functions or security-relevant information] use non-privileged accounts or roles, when accessing nonsecurity functions.

AC-6(3): Network Access to Privileged Commands

Baseline(s):

  • High

Authorize network access to [Assignment: organization-defined privileged commands] only for [Assignment: organization-defined compelling operational needs] and document the rationale for such access in the security plan for the system.

AC-6(5): Privileged Accounts

Baseline(s):

  • Moderate
  • High

Restrict privileged accounts on the system to [Assignment: organization-defined personnel or roles].

AC-6(7): Review of User Privileges

Baseline(s):

  • Moderate
  • High

Review [Assignment: organization-defined frequency] the privileges assigned to [Assignment: organization-defined roles or classes of users] to validate the need for such privileges; and Reassign or remove privileges, if necessary, to correctly reflect organizational mission and business needs.

AC-6(8): Privilege Levels for Code Execution

Baseline(s):

(Not part of any baseline)

Prevent the following software from executing at higher privilege levels than users executing the software: [Assignment: organization-defined software].