03.01.07 – Least Privilege – Privileged Functions (NIST 800-171 Rev. 3)

2025-06-15

Welcome back to our NIST SP 800-171 Revision 3 series. Today we’re diving into Control 03.01.07 – Privileged Functions, another key piece of the Access Control family.

If the previous control (03.01.06) focused on who has elevated access, this one focuses on what those elevated users can actually do.

03.01.07 – Privileged Functions

Certain system functions carry high impact — and high risk. Things like:

• Creating or modifying user accounts
• Patching software or changing system configurations
• Managing cryptographic keys

If a user misuses one of these functions — whether intentionally or by mistake — the fallout can be severe. That’s why these functions must be tightly controlled and monitored.

03.01.07 – Key Requirements

To comply with this control, organizations must:

• Prevent non-privileged users from executing privileged functions
• Log the execution of those privileged actions

In practice, that means defining what’s considered a privileged function — and ensuring only the right users can perform them.

03.01.07 – Implementation Tips

To go beyond the minimum:

• Clearly define privileged functions in your access control policy
• Use role-based access controls (RBAC) to restrict these actions to authorized personnel
• Configure systems to block non-privileged users from sensitive operations
• Enable logging for privileged actions like patching, configuration changes, and key management
• Review those logs regularly for signs of abuse or anomaly
• Document your full approach in your System Security Plan (SSP)

🛡️ If it’s not logged, it didn’t happen — at least not in the eyes of an auditor.

03.01.07 – Evidence

Be ready to provide auditors with:

• Access control and least privilege procedures
• A documented list of privileged functions and who is authorized to perform them
• System audit logs showing execution of privileged functions
• System configurations that enforce access restrictions
• A list of audited events mapped to specific users

Auditors may also ask your system administrators or developers to walk through how privileged access is technically enforced.

Why it matters..

Privileged functions are powerful. If misused, they can compromise availability, integrity, or confidentiality. That’s why it’s critical to control who can take action — and to track when they do.

This control closes the gap between permission and oversight — and helps prevent high-risk actions from slipping under the radar.

• Map privileged actions to specific users and roles
• Configure alerts for high-impact function execution
• Generate exportable SSP-ready evidence
• Audit logs with privileged function tags

Next up in our NIST 800-171 Rev. 3 series: 03.01.08 – Unsuccessful Logon Attempts. We’ll explore how to detect, limit, and respond to brute-force or unauthorized access attempts.