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Withdrawn on May 14, 2024. Superseded by SP 800-171 Rev. 3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

3.13.3: Separate user functionality from system management functionality.

Control Family: System and Communications Protection

Control Type: Derived

SPRS Value: 1

SPRS Supplemental Guidance: N/A

CMMC Level(s):

  • SC.L2-3.13.3

Top Ten Failed Requirement:

No

Referenced in:

DFARS 252.204-7012

Derived From: NIST SP 800-53r4

  • SC-2

NIST Supplemental Guidance:

  • N/A

Discussion:

System management functionality includes functions necessary to administer databases, network components, workstations, or servers, and typically requires privileged user access. The separation of user functionality from system management functionality is physical or logical. Organizations can implement separation of system management functionality from user functionality by using different computers, different central processing units, different instances of operating systems, or different network addresses; virtualization techniques; or combinations of these or other methods, as appropriate. This type of separation includes web administrative interfaces that use separate authentication methods for users of any other system resources. Separation of system and user functionality may include isolating administrative interfaces on different domains and with additional access controls.

[SP 800-160-1] provides guidance on systems security engineering

Upon assessment, assessors must determine if- 

3.13.3[a] user functionality is identified.
3.13.3[b] system management functionality is identified.
3.13.3[c] user functionality is separated from system management functionality.

Assessors are instructed to-

Examine: [SELECT FROM: System and communications protection policy; procedures addressing application partitioning; system design documentation; 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; system developer].

Test: [SELECT FROM: Separation of user functionality from system management functionality].

FURTHER DISCUSSION

Prevent users and user services from accessing system management functionality on IT components (e.g., databases, network components, workstations, servers). This reduces the attack surface to those critical interfaces by limiting who can access and how they can be accessed. By separating the user functionality from system management functionality, the administrator or privileged functions are not available to the general user. The intent of this requirement is to ensure: • general users are not permitted to perform system administration functions; and • system administrators only perform system administration functions from their privileged account. This can be accomplished using separation like VLANs or logical separation using strong access control methods.

Example

As a system administrator, you are responsible for managing a number of core systems. Policy prevents you from conducting any administration from the computer or system account you use for day-to-day work [a,b]. The servers you manage also are isolated from the main corporate network. To work with them you use a special unique account to connect to a “jump” server that has access to the systems you routinely administer.

Potential Assessment Considerations

  • Are physical or logical controls used to separate user functionality from system management-related functionality (e.g., to ensure that administration (e.g., privilege) options are not available to general users) [c]?

Frameworks & Controls