Non-privileged Account Use
Use non-privileged accounts or roles when accessing nonsecurity functions.
What gets scored, the objectives
AC.L2-3.1.6 is met only when every one of these 2 objectives, from NIST SP 800-171A, is satisfied. A single missed objective makes the whole requirement not met.
- a.nonsecurity functions are identified
- b.users are required to use non-privileged accounts or roles when accessing nonsecurity functions
How this is assessed
NIST SP 800-171A defines three assessment methods. For AC.L2-3.1.6, whoever assesses it, including your own team in a self assessment, uses these:
Access control policy; procedures addressing least privilege; system security plan; list of system-generated security functions assigned to system accounts or roles; system configuration settings and associated documentation; system audit logs and records; other relevant documents or records
Personnel with responsibilities for defining least privileges necessary to accomplish specified organizational tasks; personnel with information security responsibilities; system or network administrators
Mechanisms implementing least privilege functions
What it means, in context
This requirement limits exposure when operating from within privileged accounts or roles. The inclusion of roles addresses situations where organizations implement access control policies such as role-based access control and where a change of role provides the same degree of assurance in the change of access authorizations for the user and all processes acting on behalf of the user as would be provided by a change between a privileged and non-privileged account.
A user with a privileged account can perform more tasks and access more information than a person with a non-privileged account. Tasks (including unauthorized tasks orchestrated by attackers) performed when using the privileged account can have a greater impact on the system. System administrators and users with privileged accounts must be trained not to use their privileged accounts for everyday tasks, such as browsing the internet or connecting unnecessarily to other systems or services. Example You are logged in using your privileged account and you need to look up how to reset a non-functioning application which processes CUI . You should log on to another computer with your non-privileged account before you connect to the web and start searching for the reset information [b]. That way, if your account is compromised during the search, it will be your regular user account rather than an account with elevated privileges.
What passing evidence looks like
A short list of the nonsecurity functions your people perform (email, web browsing, documents, day to day engineering work), plus proof that admins have two accounts and use the standard one for that work: the user list showing paired accounts, and a line in the account policy requiring it.
Common ways contractors fail AC.L2-3.1.6
- !One mailbox on the admin account is the tell. If the Global Admin account has a license and a mailbox that receives daily email, the control is not real.
The step by step walkthrough for Microsoft 365 GCC High, Google Workspace, and on premises setups, plus the exact evidence to capture, lives inside the CMMC Level 2 plan.
Prove AC.L2-3.1.6, and the other 109
The Level 2 workspace walks your team through all 110 requirements at the objective level, drafts your SSP section by section from your own record for your team to read and accept, gives a prime or your own internal auditor a read only seat on the same record, and a credentialed officer reviews every step.
Book a free advisory callNo credit card, and Level 1 and Level 2 are both open, so sign up for the level your contracts call for. Self assessed and self attested: you score yourself in SPRS on a three year cycle and your senior official affirms it every year. As of September 3, 2026 a class deviation directs contracting officers to remove third party assessment from contracts. The program rule still provides for it, so your solicitation sets the track. Your team builds the same evidence either way. DFARS 252.204-7012 is unaffected, and the NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2 baseline is unchanged.
AC.L2-3.1.6 questions, answered
How many points is CMMC requirement AC.L2-3.1.6 worth?+
AC.L2-3.1.6 is worth 1 point in the CMMC Level 2 score under 32 CFR 170.24. If it is not met, you lose 1 from your total of 110.
Can AC.L2-3.1.6 be placed on a POA&M?+
Yes. A gap on AC.L2-3.1.6 can be deferred to a Plan of Action and Milestones, provided your overall score is 88 or better and the item closes within 180 days.
What family does AC.L2-3.1.6 belong to?+
AC.L2-3.1.6 is in the Access Control (AC) family, one of the 14 families of NIST SP 800-171 that make up CMMC Level 2.
- NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2 3.1.6