AC-3 Access enforcement
Requires the system to technically enforce the access authorizations that policy has approved, so that logical access to information and system resources is permitted only where an approved authorization exists.
4
artefacts
1
held by a system
3
at each review
moderate
to go live
Identity provider / directory
where the evidence lives
teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review
system holds itEvidence a system already holds
- Access control configuration export showing permissions as enforced by the system · Identity provider / directory
periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review
- Mapping from approved authorization records to the entitlements actually held · Identity provider / directory
- Test results demonstrating denial of access outside an approved authorization · Identity provider / directory
- Evidence of enforcement at each layer including database, storage and administrative interfaces · Identity provider / directory
governing documentDocuments that govern the control
none for this control
First move
Start with the 1 of 4 artefacts that already live in a system (Identity provider / directory); keep the periodic reviews but log each one as a dated record with a named reviewer.
Common gaps auditors find
- Enforcement present in the application but absent at the database or storage layer beneath it
- Entitlements accumulate through role changes so effective access exceeds what was approved
- Emergency or break glass paths bypass enforcement without compensating logging
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