# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 AC-16(6) — Maintenance Of Attribute Association

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-16-6-maintenance-of-attribute-association
- Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5) › AC — Access Control
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `AC-16(6)`·medium·Component: **Access Control**

## What this control requires

> Require personnel to associate and maintain security and privacy attributes with subjects and objects per organization-defined policies. This control supports the Data Management System capability within the Access Control family.
> 
> — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control AC-16(6)

### In plain English

Require personnel to associate and maintain security and privacy attributes with subjects and objects per organization-defined policies. In practice, this means you can prove you policy management-level controls on a defined cadence.

## Why it matters

SP 800-53 is the catalogue every U.S. federal authorisation (FedRAMP, FISMA, CMMC) and most regulated industries point at. A missing control surfaces as a Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) item that an Authorizing Official must approve before the Authority To Operate is granted or renewed.

## What an auditor looks for

A 3PAO (FedRAMP) or Independent Assessor (NIST RMF) tests against NIST SP 800-53A assessment procedures. For each control they expect a documented implementation that addresses every assessment objective (Examine, Interview, Test) and an implementation summary in the System Security Plan.

Within **Access Control**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control AC-16(6)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

## How to implement

#### Policy Management

**Docs.** Keep each policy in version-controlled Markdown alongside the code that implements it; ship a signed PDF snapshot at each annual review and link the SHA into the SoA.

### Operational checklist

-   **Policy.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Access.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Security.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Data.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Attribute.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** management, attributes, access control, privacy, organization, system, personnel, privacy attributes.

## Evidence to collect

-   **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document.

Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Maintenance Of Attribute Association.

## Common pitfalls

-   Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced.

## How it maps to other frameworks

Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit.

-   [**NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.1.9** — System Use Notification](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-1-9-system-use-notification)
-   [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.310(a)(2)(iv)** — Facility Access Controls - Maintain Maintenance Records](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-310-a-2-iv-facility-access-controls-maintain-maintenance-records)
-   [**BSI C5:2020 SP-01** — Documentation, communication and provision of policies and instructions](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/bsi-c5-2020/sp-01-documentation-communication-and-provision-of-policies-and-instructions)

## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5

-   [**Control AC-16(3)** — Maintenance Of Attribute Associations By System](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-16-3-maintenance-of-attribute-associations-by-system)
-   [**Control AC-16(1)** — Dynamic Attribute Association](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-16-1-dynamic-attribute-association)
-   [**Control AC-16(5)** — Attribute Displays On Objects To Be Output](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-16-5-attribute-displays-on-objects-to-be-output)
-   [**Control AC-16(8)** — Association Techniques And Technologies](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-16-8-association-techniques-and-technologies)
-   [**Control AC-16(9)** — Attribute Reassignment - Regrading Mechanisms](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-16-9-attribute-reassignment-regrading-mechanisms)
-   [**Control AC-16(4)** — Association Of Attributes By Authorized Individuals](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-16-4-association-of-attributes-by-authorized-individuals)

## References

-   [NIST Computer Security Resource Center — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5](https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/risk-management/sp800-53-controls)
-   Catalogue identifier: `Control AC-16(6)`

Topics: governance riskpolicy managementprivacy management

## Related compliance guidance

- [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: a practical implementation guide for cloud teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5): Start with the full NIST SP 800-53 implementation guide — scope, roadmap, evidence and how the assessment runs.
- [NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC: a practical guide to protecting CUI in the cloud](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3): If your obligation is protecting CUI in your own systems for a federal or defence contract, this derived subset — not the full catalogue — is the requirement.
- [SOC 2 compliance: a practical implementation guide for cloud-native SaaS teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria): Most commercial SaaS already hold a SOC 2 Type 2, and FedRAMP 20x Class A is designed for providers that have one.