6.5 Require MFA for Administrative Access
Require multi-factor authentication for all administrative access accounts on all enterprise assets where supported, whether the assets are run in house or by a service provider. Implementation Groups: IG1, IG2 and IG3 (part of the IG1 essential cyber hygiene baseline, so every enterprise applies it). Asset type: Users. Security function: Protect.
Source: CIS Controls v8.1, 6.5. The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open CIS Controls v8.1 in the compliance library.
Each safeguard shows its Implementation Groups. IG1 is the essential baseline for every enterprise, IG2 adds to it, IG3 is all 153. Version 8.1 adds the Govern security function and asks for more processes to be documented; numbering is unchanged from v8.
These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.
system holds itEvidence a system already holds
- Conditional access or PAM policy enforcing MFA for admin roles · Identity provider / directory
- Cloud console admin MFA status report · Identity provider / directory
periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review
- Provider attestation for managed systems · Identity provider / directory
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
none for this control
First move
Common gaps auditors find
- Break-glass accounts without compensating controls
- Network device admin access via local accounts without MFA
- Service-provider administrators exempt
Do this for your whole sheet
Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.
Build my evidence sheet6.4 Require MFA for Remote Network Access · 6.6 Establish and Maintain an Inventory of Authentication and Authorization Systems