NIST Special Publication 800-171 Revision 2

Date Published: January 28th, 2021

Withdrawn on May 14, 2024. Superseded by SP 800-171 Rev. 3

Author(s): Ron Ross (NIST), Victoria Pillitteri (NIST), Kelley Dempsey (NIST), Mark Riddle (NARA), Gary Guissanie (IDA)

Note: A Class Deviation is in effect as of May 2, 2024 (DEVIATION 2024O0013). The deviation clause requires contractors, who are subject to 252.204-7012, to comply with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication (SP) 800-171 Revision 2, instead of the version of NIST SP 800-171 in effect at the time the solicitation is issued or as authorized by the contracting officer. Click Here

3.1.15 Authorize remote execution of privileged commands and remote access to security-relevant information.

Control Family: Access Control

Control Type: Derived

SPRS Value: 1

SPRS Supplemental Guidance:

N/A

CMMC Level(s): AC.L2-3.1.14

Top Ten Failed Requirement: No


DIBCAC HIGH Failure Rate (OTS):

61th of 110

Referenced in:

DFARS 252.204-7012

Derived From: NIST SP 800-53r4

  • AC-17(4)

NIST Supplemental Guidance:

N/A

CSF v1.1:

  • PR.AC-4

NIST 800-171 Control 3.1.15 MITRE ATT&CK 14.1 Sunburst

NIST SP 800-171r2 Control 3.1.15 → MITRE ATT&CK 14.1

Mapping note: MITRE ATT&CK 14.1 techniques are derived through the NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 4 controls mapped to each NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 requirement.

Summary

  • Total mappings: 75
  • Families: 1
  • Outer ring: Technique ID + name
  • MITRE ATT&CK version: 14.1

Family counts

  • Remote Access: 75 techniques

Usage notes

  • Click a family or technique to zoom in.
  • Click the center to zoom back out.
  • Hover to view technique details.

Discussion:

A privileged command is a human-initiated (interactively or via a process operating on behalf of the human) command executed on a system involving the control, monitoring, or administration of the system including security functions and associated security-relevant information. Securityrelevant information is any information within the system that can potentially impact the operation of security functions or the provision of security services in a manner that could result in failure to enforce the system security policy or maintain isolation of code and data. Privileged commands give individuals the ability to execute sensitive, security-critical, or security-relevant system functions. Controlling such access from remote locations helps to ensure that unauthorized individuals are not able to execute such commands freely with the potential to do serious or catastrophic damage to organizational systems. Note that the ability to affect the integrity of the system is considered security-relevant as that could enable the means to by-pass security functions although not directly impacting the function itself.

Determining Statements (NIST SP 800-171Ar2)

Upon assessment, assessors must determine if-

3.1.15[a] privileged commands authorized for remote execution are identified.
3.1.15[b] security-relevant information authorized to be accessed remotely is identified.
3.1.15[c] the execution of the identified privileged commands via remote access is
authorized.
3.1.15[d] access to the identified security-relevant information via remote access is
authorized.

Assessors are instructed to-

Examine: [SELECT FROM: Access control policy; procedures addressing remote access to the system; system configuration settings and associated documentation; system security plan; system audit logs and records; other relevant documents or records].

Interview: [SELECT FROM: System or network administrators; personnel with information security responsibilities].

Test: [SELECT FROM: Mechanisms implementing remote access management].

FURTHER DISCUSSION

Privileged users are not necessarily allowed to perform their job functions from a remote location. Likewise, not all privileged commands may be executed remotely. Allowing remote execution of privileged commands or remote access to security-relevant information should be avoided if possible. If absolutely necessary, the privileged commands authorized for remote execution should be identified and documented. Document which user roles have permissions to remotely execute privileged commands to make changes and to access security relevant information. Documentation must be used to establish security mechanisms that enforce the policy. This requirement, AC.L2-3.1.15, requires authorization for privileged commands executed during a remote session and complements five other requirements dealing with remote access (AC.L2-3.1.12, AC.L2-3.1.14, AC.L2-3.1.13, IA.L2-3.5.3, and MA.L2-3.7.5):

  • AC.L2-3.1.12 requires the control of remote access sessions.

  • AC.L2-3.1.14 limits remote access to specific access control points.

  • AC.L2-3.1.13 requires the use of cryptographic mechanisms when enabling remote sessions.

  • IA.L2-3.5.3 requires multifactor authentication for network access to non-privileged accounts.

  • Finally, MA.L2-3.7.5 requires the addition of multifactor authentication for remote maintenance sessions.

This requirement, AC.L2-3.1.15, also extends AC.L2-3.1.2, which limits the types of transactions and functions that authorized users are permitted to execute.

Example

Your company’s Access Control Policy permits certain work roles to remotely perform a limited set of privileged commands from company-owned computers [a]. You implement controls to enforce who can remotely execute a privileged command, which privileged commands they can execute, and who is allowed access to security relevant information such as audit log configuration settings [a,c,d].

Potential Assessment Considerations

  • Does system documentation identify system administration or security functions that can be executed remotely [a]?

  • Is execution of the identified privileged commands via remote access only authorized for documented operational needs [c]?

ISO/IEC 27001:2013

No direct mapping

NIST SP 800-171r2 Control 3.1.15 → MITRE ATT&CK
MITRE ATT&CK v14.1

NIST SP 800-171r2 Control 3.1.15 → MITRE ATT&CK

Total Mappings

75
technique references

Families

1
Remote Access

Control

3.1.15
AC.L2-3.1.15

Remote Access 75 techniques

  • T1020.001Traffic Duplication
  • T1021Remote Services
  • T1021.001Remote Desktop Protocol
  • T1021.002SMB/Windows Admin Shares
  • T1021.003Distributed Component Object Model
  • T1021.004SSH
  • T1021.005VNC
  • T1021.006Windows Remote Management
  • T1037Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts
  • T1037.001Logon Script (Windows)
  • T1040Network Sniffing
  • T1047Windows Management Instrumentation
  • T1059Command and Scripting Interpreter
  • T1059.001PowerShell
  • T1059.002AppleScript
  • T1059.003Windows Command Shell
  • T1059.004Unix Shell
  • T1059.005Visual Basic
  • T1059.006Python
  • T1059.007JavaScript
  • T1059.008Network Device CLI
  • T1070Indicator Removal on Host
  • T1070.001Clear Windows Event Logs
  • T1070.002Clear Linux or Mac System Logs
  • T1070.008Clear Mailbox Data
  • T1114Email Collection
  • T1114.001Local Email Collection
  • T1114.002Remote Email Collection
  • T1114.003Email Forwarding Rule
  • T1119Automated Collection
  • T1133External Remote Services
  • T1137Office Application Startup
  • T1137.002Office Test
  • T1213Data from Information Repositories
  • T1213.001Confluence
  • T1213.002Sharepoint
  • T1219Remote Access Software
  • T1505.004IIS Components
  • T1505.005Terminal Services DLL
  • T1530Data from Cloud Storage Object
  • T1537Transfer Data to Cloud Account
  • T1543Create or Modify System Process
  • T1543.003Windows Service
  • T1543.004Launch Daemon
  • T1547.003Time Providers
  • T1547.004Winlogon Helper DLL
  • T1547.009Shortcut Modification
  • T1547.012Print Processors
  • T1547.013XDG Autostart Entries
  • T1550.001Application Access Token
  • T1552Unsecured Credentials
  • T1552.002Credentials in Registry
  • T1552.004Private Keys
  • T1552.007Container API
  • T1557Adversary-in-the-Middle
  • T1557.002ARP Cache Poisoning
  • T1558Steal or Forge Kerberos Tickets
  • T1558.002Silver Ticket
  • T1558.003Kerberoasting
  • T1558.004AS-REP Roasting
  • T1563Remote Service Session Hijacking
  • T1563.001SSH Hijacking
  • T1563.002RDP Hijacking
  • T1565Data Manipulation
  • T1565.001Stored Data Manipulation
  • T1565.002Transmitted Data Manipulation
  • T1602Data from Configuration Repository
  • T1602.001SNMP (MIB Dump)
  • T1602.002Network Device Configuration Dump
  • T1609Container Administration Command
  • T1610Deploy Container
  • T1612Build Image on Host
  • T1613Container and Resource Discovery
  • T1619Cloud Storage Object Discovery
  • T1647Plist File Modification

Frameworks & Controls