MA-4—Nonlocal Maintenance
>Control Description
Approve and monitor nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities;
Allow the use of nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic tools only as consistent with organizational policy and documented in the security plan for the system;
Employ strong authentication in the establishment of nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions;
Maintain records for nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities; and
Terminate session and network connections when nonlocal maintenance is completed.
>FedRAMP Baseline Requirements
No FedRAMP-specific parameter values or requirements for this baseline.
>Discussion
Nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic activities are conducted by individuals who communicate through either an external or internal network. Local maintenance and diagnostic activities are carried out by individuals who are physically present at the system location and not communicating across a network connection. Authentication techniques used to establish nonlocal maintenance and diagnostic sessions reflect the network access requirements in IA-2.
Strong authentication requires authenticators that are resistant to replay attacks and employ multi-factor authentication. Strong authenticators include PKI where certificates are stored on a token protected by a password, passphrase, or biometric. Enforcing requirements in MA-4 is accomplished, in part, by other controls.
SP 800-63B provides additional guidance on strong authentication and authenticators.
>Cross-Framework Mappings
>Programmatic Queries
Related Services
CLI Commands
aws ssm describe-sessions --state Activeaws ssm describe-document --name SSM-SessionManagerRunShellaws ssm describe-sessions --state History --max-results 50aws ec2 describe-instances --query 'Reservations[*].Instances[*].{Id:InstanceId,State:State.Name,Platform:Platform}'>Assessment Interview Topics
Questions assessors commonly ask
Process & Governance:
- •What formal policies and procedures govern the implementation of MA-4 (Nonlocal Maintenance)?
- •Who are the designated roles responsible for implementing, maintaining, and monitoring MA-4?
- •How frequently is the MA-4 policy reviewed and updated, and what triggers policy changes?
- •What governance structure ensures MA-4 requirements are consistently applied across all systems?
Technical Implementation:
- •Describe the specific technical mechanisms or controls used to enforce MA-4 requirements.
- •What automated tools, systems, or technologies are deployed to implement MA-4?
- •How is MA-4 integrated into your system architecture and overall security posture?
- •What configuration settings, parameters, or technical specifications enforce MA-4 requirements?
Evidence & Documentation:
- •What documentation demonstrates the complete implementation of MA-4?
- •What audit logs, records, reports, or monitoring data validate MA-4 compliance?
- •Can you provide evidence of periodic reviews, assessments, or testing of MA-4 effectiveness?
- •What artifacts would you present during a FedRAMP assessment to demonstrate MA-4 compliance?
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