NIST 800-171 3.3.6 (AU.L2-3.3.6): Audit Reduction

Provide audit record reduction and report generation to support on-demand analysis and reporting.

NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2, requirement 3.3.6

CMMC Level 2 practice AU.L2-3.3.6Published 2026-11-11

What 3.3.6 means in practice

Analysts need to filter and summarize large volumes of log data on demand, and produce reports from it, without changing the original records. A SIEM or a log analytics workspace with saved searches and report templates usually provides both.

SPRS points and the CMMC POA&M

CMMC Level 2 practice: AU.L2-3.3.6
SPRS points: 1 point. When it is not met, the DoD Assessment Methodology subtracts 1 from the score of 110.
CMMC POA&M: Allowed. It is worth 1 point, and 32 CFR 170.21(a)(2)(ii) admits requirements worth 1 point. Conditional status also needs a score of at least 88, and the item must be closed within 180 days.

Sources: NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment Methodology, version 1.2.1 (June 24, 2020), Annex A; 32 CFR 170.21, Plan of Action and Milestones requirements.

What an assessor checks for 3.3.6

NIST SP 800-171A gives 2 determination statements for 3.3.6, each found satisfied or other than satisfied. Determine if:

3.3.6[a] an audit record reduction capability that supports on-demand analysis is provided.
3.3.6[b] a report generation capability that supports on-demand reporting is provided.

NIST SP 800-171A (June 2018), assessment objectives for 3.3.6

Evidence that shows 3.3.6 is met

The log platform's search, filtering and summarization capability.
Saved queries or report templates used for on-demand reporting.
A sample report produced from audit records.

How PolicyCortex gathers the evidence

PolicyCortex reads this evidence with the collectors below, read only, and grades 3.3.6 from it. Each line says what the product checks.

Azure Monitor: Log Analytics workspaces. Checks that a central Log Analytics workspace provides audit reduction and report generation.

Related pages

Calculator: SPRS score calculator: mark 3.3.6 and the other 109 requirements and see the score.
Sample package: Sample package: an SSP, a POA&M and an evidence chain the product generated from demonstration data.
Family: All 9 Audit and Accountability requirements (3.3).
Previous: 3.3.5: Audit Correlation
Next: 3.3.7: Authoritative Time
All requirements: All 110 NIST SP 800-171 requirements, by family.

Related records

Guides and articles describe the work. The evidence that work produces is described in three proof pages, the architecture page, and the two pages on authorization.

proof.state: Proof of State. What the environment was, as of a date someone else picks: point-in-time records, content hashed and chained.
proof.change: Proof of Change. Who or what altered the environment, under what authority, with before and after state hashes.
proof.agency: Proof of Agency. What a machine was permitted to do before it acted, what it did, and what would have stopped it.
architecture: Architecture. How the chain is built and where the evidence is stored in each delivery mode.
authorization: Continuous ATO. How an authorizing official's decision is recorded with its package, and how the authorized system is checked against it every hour.
baseline: NIST SP 800-53. The Low, Moderate and High baselines as evidence, with the SSP, SAR and POA&M generated from one record.