non-security function
163580·updated Sep 1, 2026A category of system capability or task — specifically, any operation, feature, or process whose purpose is ordinary business, user-productivity, or operational activity rather than the administration, enforcement, or configuration of security controls. In NIST SP 800-171 and related least-privilege frameworks, it serves as the contrast class to "security functions" (privileged operations such as modifying access policies, managing accounts, or configuring audit mechanisms), and the distinction drives the rule that elevated privileges must not be active during routine work. Practitioners use it to draw the boundary at which a privileged account or role must step down to a non-privileged one, limiting the blast radius of credential compromise or user error during everyday tasks.
Source
when accessing non-the sentence this term was read in
generalized from a web lookup of the quoted expression at proposal time Verdict: term of art.
- 03.01.06: Least Privilege — Privileged Accounts - CSF Tools
- Enforce privileged accounts and non-privileged accounts for system access. | Simplifying Compliance Management | UCF
- Least Privilege – Privileged Accounts from NIST 800-171 Rev 3 framework | SAMMY
- Use non-privileged accounts or roles when accessing nonsecurity functions - NIST SP 800 171 Compliance Experts - On Call Compliance Solutions
- NIST SP 800-171 Least Privilege Explained - Cuick Trac
A definition generalized from search results is a draft to react to, not provenance. Confirm it against an authority document before this term is verified.
A web lookup ran when this term was proposed
A category of system or application capability whose purpose is the delivery of business, operational, or user productivity outcomes — email, file editing, data entry, reporting — as distinct from capabilities that enforce, configure, audit, or administer the security posture of the system itself. Standards such as NIST SP 800-171 contrast it with "security functions," which include the elevated capabilities that privileged accounts are granted to access resources otherwise restricted to non-privileged users. The expression is used operationally to require that users holding privileged accounts drop to non-privileged accounts when doing work that does not involve those security capabilities, thereby limiting unauthorized access to and manipulation of security functions or security-relevant information. The distinction is the basis for enforcing least-privilege and separation-of-duties controls: users may only have access to the minimum level of information and resources necessary to perform their job functions.
Advisory only. A term this product ships is defined by an authority document, not by a search result.
Proposed during multiword review of this document in the CKI mapping queue.
Attested in
Classifications
Entity Type
Sensitivity
Information Class
Variants
- plural
- non-security functions
- possessive
- non-security function's
- pluralpossessive
- non-security functions'
Framework definitions
- §1 · attested_usage_reviewer_confirmed
- No definition is given in NIST SP 800-171r3. The term is attested in use at 1 citation in that document; a definition is pending curation.Increment 2: attested in 800-171r3 without a glossary definition.
- §1 · web_lookup_draft
- A category of system capability or task — specifically, any operation, feature, or process whose purpose is ordinary business, user-productivity, or operational activity rather than the administration, enforcement, or configuration of security controls. In NIST SP 800-171 and related least-privilege frameworks, it serves as the contrast class to "security functions" (privileged operations such as modifying access policies, managing accounts, or configuring audit mechanisms), and the distinction drives the rule that elevated privileges must not be active during routine work. Practitioners use it to draw the boundary at which a privileged account or role must step down to a non-privileged one, limiting the blast radius of credential compromise or user error during everyday tasks.DR-088 backfill from the noun definition column