AC-4(14)_security-or-privacy-policy-filter-constraints

AC-4(14) Security or Privacy Policy Filter Constraints

Enhancement of: AC-4

High-Level Description

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

Data structure and content restrictions reduce the range of potential malicious or unsanctioned content in cross-domain transactions. Security or privacy policy filters that restrict data structures include restricting file sizes and field lengths. Data content policy filters include encoding formats for character sets, restricting character data fields to only contain alpha-numeric characters, prohibiting special characters, and validating schema structures.

What to Check

• Verify AC-4(14) Security or Privacy Policy Filter Constraints is documented in SSP
• Confirm control is operating effectively
• Review evidence of continuous monitoring for AC-4(14)
• Verify enhancement builds upon base control AC-4

How to Test

Step 1: Review Documentation

Examine the System Security Plan (SSP) and related artifacts for AC-4(14) 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

When transferring information between different security domains, implement [organization-defined] requiring fully enumerated formats that restrict data structure and content.

Implementation Guidance

Data structure and content restrictions reduce the range of potential malicious or unsanctioned content in cross-domain transactions. Security or privacy policy filters that restrict data structures include restricting file sizes and field lengths. Data content policy filters include encoding formats for character sets, restricting character data fields to only contain alpha-numeric characters, prohibiting special characters, and validating schema structures.

Risk Assessment

CWE Categories

References

• NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 - AC-4(14)
• 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 (none) reviewed