AC-2(8)_dynamic-account-management

AC-2(8) Dynamic Account Management

Enhancement of: AC-2

High-Level Description

Family: Access Control (AC) Framework: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5

Approaches for dynamically creating, activating, managing, and deactivating system accounts rely on automatically provisioning the accounts at runtime for entities that were previously unknown. Organizations plan for the dynamic management, creation, activation, and deactivation of system accounts by establishing trust relationships, business rules, and mechanisms with appropriate authorities to validate related authorizations and privileges.

What to Check

• Verify AC-2(8) Dynamic Account Management is documented in SSP
• Confirm control is operating effectively
• Review evidence of continuous monitoring for AC-2(8)
• Verify enhancement builds upon base control AC-2

How to Test

Step 1: Review Documentation

Examine the System Security Plan (SSP) and related artifacts for AC-2(8) implementation details. Verify the organization has documented how this control is satisfied.

Step 2: Validate Implementation

# For cloud environments, use cloud-audit-mcp tools
# For on-premises, review system configurations directly

# Example: Check if account management policies exist
grep -r "account.management\|access.control" /etc/security/ 2>/dev/null

Step 3: Test Operating Effectiveness

Verify the control is actively functioning, not just documented. Check logs, configurations, and operational evidence.

Tools

Remediation Guide

Control Statement

Create, activate, manage, and deactivate [organization-defined] dynamically.

Implementation Guidance

Approaches for dynamically creating, activating, managing, and deactivating system accounts rely on automatically provisioning the accounts at runtime for entities that were previously unknown. Organizations plan for the dynamic management, creation, activation, and deactivation of system accounts by establishing trust relationships, business rules, and mechanisms with appropriate authorities to validate related authorizations and privileges.

Risk Assessment

CWE Categories

References

• NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 - AC-2(8)
• NIST SP 800-53A Rev 5 (Assessment Procedures)
• NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 Full Catalog

Checklist

• Control documented in SSP
• Implementation evidence collected
• Operating effectiveness validated
• Continuous monitoring in place
• Related controls (AC-16) reviewed