mandatory access control (MAC)

{
  "id": "MLC-T-CYB-002597",
  "term": "mandatory access control (MAC)",
  "field": "Cybersecurity",
  "definition": "1. A means of restricting access to objects based on the sensitivity (as represented by a security label) of the information contained in the objects and the formal authorization (i.e., clearance, formal access approvals, and need-to-know) of subjects to access information of such sensitivity. Mandatory Access Control is a type of nondiscretionary access control.\n\n2. An access control policy that is uniformly enforced across all subjects and objects within the boundary of an information system. A subject that has been granted access to information is constrained from doing any of the following: (i) passing the information to unauthorized subjects or objects; (ii) granting its privileges to other subjects; (iii) changing one or more security attributes on subjects, objects, the information system, or system components; (iv) choosing the security attributes to be associated with newly-created or modified objects; or (v) changing the rules governing access control. Organization-defined subjects may explicitly be granted organization-defined privileges (i.e., they are trusted subjects) such that they are not limited by some or all of the above constraints.\n\n3. See mandatory access control (MAC).\n\n4. Message Authentication Code.\n\n5. means that access control policy decisions are made by a central authority, not by the individual owner of an object. User cannot change access rights. An example of MAC occurs in military security, where an individual data owner does not decide who has a top-secret clearance, nor can the owner change the classification of an object from top-secret to secret.\n\n6. A means of restricting access to system resources based on the sensitivity (as represented by a label) of the information contained in the system resource and the formal authorization (i.e., clearance) of users to access information of such sensitivity.\n\n7. See Mandatory Access Control.\n\n8. An access control policy that is uniformly enforced across all subjects and objects within a system. A subject that has been granted access to information is constrained from: passing the information to unauthorized subjects or objects; granting its privileges to other subjects; changing one or more security attributes on subjects, objects, the system, or system components; choosing the security attributes to be associated with newly created or modified objects; or changing the rules for governing access control. Organization-defined subjects may explicitly be granted organization-defined privileges (i.e., they are trusted subjects) such that they are not limited by some or all of the above constraints. Mandatory access control is considered a type of nondiscretionary access control.",
  "abbreviation": "MAC",
  "synonyms": [
    "non-discretionary access control",
    "Nondiscretionary Access Control"
  ],
  "references": [
    "NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 4 [Superseded] from CNSSI 4009",
    "CNSSI 4009-2015 from NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 4; NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 4 [Superseded]",
    "CNSSI 4009-2015",
    "NIST SP 800-108 [Superseded]; NIST SP 800-56C [Superseded]",
    "NIST SP 800-192",
    "NIST SP 800-44 Version 2",
    "NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 4 [Superseded]",
    "NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5",
    "NIST CSRC Glossary"
  ],
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/cybersecurity/mandatory-access-control-mac/"
}