What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on IAM-15 Authorization Mechanisms?

Authorisation model documentation (RBAC or ABAC) for key applications and APIs; Policy enforcement configuration showing authorisation checks on each request; Test results for authorisation bypass and privilege escalation; Review records of authorisation rules.

What is the most common gap auditors find on IAM-15?

Authorisation enforced in the user interface but not on the underlying API

CSA CCM v4.1 · IAM - Identity & Access Management

`IAM-15` Authorization Mechanisms

Define, put in place and assess processes, procedures and technical measures that confirm every request touching data or system functions carries proper authorisation.

Source: CSA CCM v4.1, IAM-15. 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 CSA CCM v4.1 in the compliance library.

Version 4.1 adds 11 controls (among them API security, log sanitisation and a service bill of materials) and renumbers several domains. CSA accepts v4.0.x during its transition; if your STAR assessment is still on v4.0.1, check the numbering against it.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

moderate

to go live

Cloud console / configuration management

where the evidence lives

teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review. To go live: easy when half or more of the artefacts are already held by a system, moderate from a quarter to a half, hard below a quarter.

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

Policy enforcement configuration showing authorisation checks on each request · Cloud console / configuration management

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

Test results for authorisation bypass and privilege escalation · Source control / CI pipeline
Review records of authorisation rules · Document repository

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

Authorisation model documentation (RBAC or ABAC) for key applications and APIs · Document repository

First move

Start with the 1 of 4 artefacts that already live in a system (Cloud console / configuration management); keep the periodic reviews but log each one as a dated record with a named reviewer.

Common gaps auditors find

Authorisation enforced in the user interface but not on the underlying API
Object-level authorisation missing, letting users reach other tenants' records
Authorisation rules not tested after changes

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 sheet

IAM-14 Credentials Management · IPY-01 Interoperability and Portability Policy and Procedures