NIST 800-171 3.8.5 (MP.L2-3.8.5): Media Transport

Control access to media containing CUI and maintain accountability for media during transport outside of controlled areas.

NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 2, requirement 3.8.5

CMMC Level 2 practice MP.L2-3.8.5Published 2026-11-11

What 3.8.5 means in practice

When media with CUI leaves a controlled area, it stays in someone's charge the whole way, through custody records, locked containers, approved couriers or encryption. Only authorized people may carry it.

SPRS points and the CMMC POA&M

CMMC Level 2 practice: MP.L2-3.8.5
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 3.8.5

NIST SP 800-171A gives 2 determination statements for 3.8.5, each found satisfied or other than satisfied. Determine if:

3.8.5[a] access to media containing CUI is controlled.
3.8.5[b] accountability for media containing CUI is maintained during transport outside of controlled areas.

NIST SP 800-171A (June 2018), assessment objectives for 3.8.5

Evidence that shows 3.8.5 is met

The transport procedure and the people authorized to carry media.
Chain of custody or transport logs.
Records of the locked containers or approved couriers used.

How PolicyCortex gathers the evidence

No PolicyCortex collector reads the evidence for 3.8.5. Your team provides the evidence listed above.

Related pages

Calculator: SPRS score calculator: mark 3.8.5 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 Media Protection requirements (3.8).
Previous: 3.8.4: Media Marking
Next: 3.8.6: Encrypt Media in Transit
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.