Security Resilience

NIST 800-53 r5 · Controls catalogue · Family AC

AC-3Access Enforcement

Enforce approved authorizations for logical access to information and system resources in accordance with applicable access control policies.

Last updated: 15 October 2026 20:36 UTC

Implementations targeting this control (32)

ATT&CK techniques this control mitigates (279)

Weaknesses this control addresses (6)AI-assisted

CWEs ranked by how often they appear in real CVEs. The rationale describes how this control reduces exploitability of each weakness class.

CWE Name CVEs Why this control addresses it
CWE-862Missing Authorization11,800+Requiring enforcement of authorizations ensures checks are performed rather than omitted for resources.
CWE-284Improper Access Control8,100+Enforcing approved authorizations directly implements access control policies to block unauthorized access.
CWE-863Incorrect Authorization4,800+Mandating policy-based enforcement reduces the chance of incorrect authorization logic being used.
CWE-639Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key3,300+Consistent enforcement of approved authorizations makes bypassing via user-controlled keys ineffective.
CWE-285Improper Authorization1,700+The control requires checking and applying authorization decisions per policy, preventing improper authorization.
CWE-425Direct Request ('Forced Browsing')200+Enforcing access for all logical requests prevents unauthorized direct access to protected resources.

Top CVEs where this control is the strongest mitigation

CVE Risk CVSS EPSS Match
CVE-2025-54253 KEV 10.010.00.8826good
CVE-2026-34908 KEV 10.010.00.1521good
CVE-2026-34909 KEV 10.010.00.0179good
CVE-2026-48282 KEV 10.010.00.4239good
CVE-2026-76460 KEV 10.010.00.1403partial
CVE-2023-6875 9.99.80.9034good
CVE-2024-0204 9.99.80.9509good
CVE-2024-23897 KEV 9.99.81.0000good
CVE-2024-27348 KEV 9.99.80.9921good
CVE-2023-40498 9.99.80.8509good
CVE-2024-32113 KEV 9.99.80.9992good
CVE-2024-4885 KEV 9.99.80.9929good
CVE-2024-38856 KEV 9.99.80.9943good
CVE-2024-6782 9.99.80.8412good
CVE-2024-41730 9.99.80.7587good
CVE-2024-40766 KEV 9.99.80.1838good
CVE-2024-9047 9.99.80.9334good
CVE-2024-45216 9.99.80.9275good
CVE-2025-2294 9.99.80.7836good
CVE-2025-4632 KEV 9.99.80.2407good
CVE-2025-8943 9.99.80.7520good
CVE-2025-11749 9.99.80.7483good
CVE-2026-21962 KEV 9.910.00.7319good
CVE-2026-35616 KEV 9.99.80.0910good
CVE-2026-48907 KEV 9.99.80.1619good

Other controls in family AC

AC-1 AC-10 AC-11 AC-12 AC-13 AC-14 AC-15 AC-16 AC-17 AC-18 AC-19 AC-2 AC-20 AC-21 AC-22 AC-23 AC-24 AC-25 AC-4 AC-5 AC-6 AC-7 AC-8 AC-9