What evidence do auditors commonly ask for on AC-6 Least Privilege?

Access control policy; Procedures addressing least privilege; List of assigned access authorizations (user privileges); System configuration settings and associated documentation; System audit records; System security plan.

What is the most common gap auditors find on AC-6?

Users and service processes hold permissions beyond what their assigned tasks require, with no evidence of task-based access design

NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 · AC - Access Control

`AC-6` Least Privilege

Employ the principle of least privilege, allowing only authorized accesses for users (or processes acting on behalf of users) that are necessary to accomplish assigned organizational tasks.

Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, AC-6. 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 NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 in the compliance library.

Base controls and their enhancements. Which apply follows the baseline you are assessed against (for example FedRAMP Moderate or High, or the low, moderate and high baselines of SP 800-53B). Text in square brackets is a parameter your organisation sets.

artefacts

held by a system

at each review

hard

to go live

Policy repository / GRC workspace

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

List of assigned access authorizations (user privileges) · Identity provider / directory

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

System audit records · Identity provider / directory
Test of Mechanisms implementing least privilege functions · Identity provider / directory

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

Access control policy · Policy repository / GRC workspace
Procedures addressing least privilege · Policy repository / GRC workspace
System configuration settings and associated documentation · Policy repository / GRC workspace
System security plan · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

Mostly documents and reviews. Pull the 1 system-held artefact from your Identity provider / directory on a schedule; put the documents under version control with an owner and review date, and log each review as a dated record with a named reviewer.

Common gaps auditors find

Users and service processes hold permissions beyond what their assigned tasks require, with no evidence of task-based access design
Default broad group memberships grant all staff write access to shared resources irrespective of their organizational tasks

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

AC-5 Separation of Duties · AC-6(1) Least Privilege | Authorize Access to Security Functions