CompTIA CAS-005 Practice Test 4
Question 30
In Regional hospital, a security issue affects trauma care portal: single regional reverse proxy is a failure domain for emergency access. The observed evidence is that failure exercise shows users lose routing despite healthy application nodes. Operations must account for this constraint: patient intake must meet 15-minute recovery requirement. The change has been implemented and its ticket closed. Which technical check would establish that the original issue is actually controlled?
- Add more application servers behind the same unprotected proxy
- Identify dependencies, failure domains and measured recovery objectives
- Fail an active gateway during test and measure access recovery against objective
- Deploy staggered failover and preserve critical session state under rollback controls
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Fail an active gateway during test and measure access recovery against objective tests whether the original failure can still occur and whether authorized activity continues to work. A change ticket or rollout confirmation is weaker than direct acceptance evidence.
Incorrect Answers
A:Extra compute does not remove a single network routing chokepoint. The immediate requirement for trauma care portal is verified remediation, which this alternative does not provide.
B:Cause analysis belongs before implementation; it is not a retest of the deployed control on the originally affected path. In this case, the evidence involves trauma care portal and failure exercise shows users lose routing despite healthy application nodes.
D:A governed rollout makes the solution live, but installation and rollback readiness do not establish effectiveness. In this case, the evidence involves trauma care portal and failure exercise shows users lose routing despite healthy application nodes.
Question 31
In Government certificate authority, a security issue affects signing-key misuse: suspicious admin session triggers signing requests absent change ticket. The observed evidence is that HSM audit shows rapid signatures from unapproved operator credential. Operations must account for this constraint: citizen certificates must remain verifiable while compromised issuance stops. What ongoing evidence will show whether changed identities, dependencies or environments weaken the security decision?
- Verify unauthorized signing blocked and unaffected certificates validate
- Delete all existing certificates before determining compromise scope
- Monitor new signing anomalies and certificate revocation propagation
- Suspend suspect signing principal and introduce dual-control HSM policy
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Monitor new signing anomalies and certificate revocation propagation identifies future loss of control, changed dependencies and exceptions affecting signing-key misuse. Successful initial testing alone does not establish that the safeguard will remain effective.
Incorrect Answers
A:A one-time retest may miss later identity, supplier or configuration changes; continuing assurance is required. In this case, the evidence involves signing-key misuse and HSM audit shows rapid signatures from unapproved operator credential.
B:An indiscriminate revocation can break public services without evidence. The immediate requirement for signing-key misuse is ongoing assurance, which this alternative does not provide.
D:Designing the safeguard is an earlier stage; ongoing assurance needs operational evidence of drift or bypass. In this case, the evidence involves signing-key misuse and HSM audit shows rapid signatures from unapproved operator credential.
Question 32
In National procurement agency, a security issue affects document download gateway: encoded path traversal resolves outside public document root. The observed evidence is that test input containing encoded dot-dot path returns internal configuration snippet. Operations must account for this constraint: public registry must remain available during patch window. The team must distinguish a real control failure from assumptions about the observation. Which evidence-led action is most appropriate?
- Canonicalize and confine file paths with least-privilege service account
- Stage gateway validation and legacy URL compatibility under change control
- Block one exact traversal string while leaving alternate encodings accepted
- Trace decoding order, canonical path and filesystem privilege
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Trace decoding order, canonical path and filesystem privilege connects the reported evidence (test input containing encoded dot-dot path returns internal configuration snippet) to the underlying control, authority or dependency path. A justified mitigation requires knowing the real scope of the issue, not guessing from its label.
Incorrect Answers
A:Proposing the control before establishing the scope would assume that the observed event arises from the expected trust boundary. In this case, the evidence involves document download gateway and test input containing encoded dot-dot path returns internal configuration snippet.
B:Changing production before understanding the reported path could act on the wrong cause and disrupt service. In this case, the evidence involves document download gateway and test input containing encoded dot-dot path returns internal configuration snippet.
C:Single-pattern filters are easily bypassed by normalization variants. The immediate requirement for document download gateway is evidence assessment, which this alternative does not provide.
Question 33
In Multinational financial group, a security issue affects remote worker SASE access: users receive full office-subnet access after VPN authentication. The observed evidence is that incident simulation shows credential theft permits database traversal. Operations must account for this constraint: remote onboarding must support unmanaged personal devices only for public apps. The owner requests acceptance evidence, rather than a deployment success message. Which validation is most conclusive?
- Allow all traffic from a corporate VPN address as trusted
- Migrate public and privileged applications through isolated policy rings
- Map identities, device posture, application sensitivity and access intersections
- Verify unmanaged device cannot reach privileged data while managed device can
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Verify unmanaged device cannot reach privileged data while managed device can tests whether the original failure can still occur and whether authorized activity continues to work. A change ticket or rollout confirmation is weaker than direct acceptance evidence.
Incorrect Answers
A:IP-based location says little about subject, device and object authorization. The immediate requirement for remote worker SASE access is verified remediation, which this alternative does not provide.
B:A governed rollout makes the solution live, but installation and rollback readiness do not establish effectiveness. In this case, the evidence involves remote worker SASE access and incident simulation shows credential theft permits database traversal.
C:Cause analysis belongs before implementation; it is not a retest of the deployed control on the originally affected path. In this case, the evidence involves remote worker SASE access and incident simulation shows credential theft permits database traversal.
Question 34
In Cloud healthcare startup, a security issue affects IaC security baselines: new test accounts repeatedly expose storage buckets to public network. The observed evidence is that Terraform diff shows unrestricted policy reintroduced by shared module. Operations must account for this constraint: developers need safe self-service environments. The proposed fix is live. What should the assurance team verify before signing off remediation?
- Provision representative test environment and verify public access denied
- Only run a monthly manual cloud console review
- Introduce IaC gate with tested exception approvals and staged account rollout
- Trace inherited module outputs and drift origin from deployment records
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Provision representative test environment and verify public access denied tests whether the original failure can still occur and whether authorized activity continues to work. A change ticket or rollout confirmation is weaker than direct acceptance evidence.
Incorrect Answers
B:A delayed scan permits new insecure deployments between audits. The immediate requirement for IaC security baselines is verified remediation, which this alternative does not provide.
C:A governed rollout makes the solution live, but installation and rollback readiness do not establish effectiveness. In this case, the evidence involves IaC security baselines and Terraform diff shows unrestricted policy reintroduced by shared module.
D:Cause analysis belongs before implementation; it is not a retest of the deployed control on the originally affected path. In this case, the evidence involves IaC security baselines and Terraform diff shows unrestricted policy reintroduced by shared module.
Question 35
In Public transit fare network, a security issue affects contactless validation: one central certificate service can halt all station validators on outage. The observed evidence is that recent test shows otherwise healthy validators cannot cache authorized local decisions. Operations must account for this constraint: offline tickets must expire safely and prevent duplicate redemption. After a successful go-live, the accountable owner must watch for recurring exposure. Which monitoring action best does that?
- Disconnect certificate service in test and confirm safe ticket acceptance and reconciliation
- Introduce bounded signed offline entitlements with replay controls and central reconciliation
- Monitor offline token abuse, reconciliation gaps and certificate service health
- Permit unlimited local ticket acceptance when the central service fails
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Monitor offline token abuse, reconciliation gaps and certificate service health identifies future loss of control, changed dependencies and exceptions affecting contactless validation. Successful initial testing alone does not establish that the safeguard will remain effective.
Incorrect Answers
A:A one-time retest may miss later identity, supplier or configuration changes; continuing assurance is required. In this case, the evidence involves contactless validation and recent test shows otherwise healthy validators cannot cache authorized local decisions.
B:Designing the safeguard is an earlier stage; ongoing assurance needs operational evidence of drift or bypass. In this case, the evidence involves contactless validation and recent test shows otherwise healthy validators cannot cache authorized local decisions.
D:Unbounded offline acceptance defeats fraud and expiry controls. The immediate requirement for contactless validation is ongoing assurance, which this alternative does not provide.
Question 36
In University investment office, a security issue affects security portfolio funding: multiple high-risk initiatives exceed the annual risk-reduction budget. The observed evidence is that risk register has disparate monetary loss assumptions and untested threat probabilities. Operations must account for this constraint: finance will not approve all investments this quarter. The team must distinguish a real control failure from assumptions about the observation. Which evidence-led action is most appropriate?
- Fund whichever request has the highest raw technical CVSS score
- Select treatment options using comparable risk reduction, dependency and appetite criteria
- Normalize exposure, uncertainty, existing controls and extreme-but-plausible loss scenarios
- Present staged, authorized funding tranches with defined residual-risk owners
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Normalize exposure, uncertainty, existing controls and extreme-but-plausible loss scenarios connects the reported evidence (risk register has disparate monetary loss assumptions and untested threat probabilities) to the underlying control, authority or dependency path. A justified mitigation requires knowing the real scope of the issue, not guessing from its label.
Incorrect Answers
A:Base severity is not the same as enterprise financial and mission exposure. The immediate requirement for security portfolio funding is evidence assessment, which this alternative does not provide.
B:Proposing the control before establishing the scope would assume that the observed event arises from the expected trust boundary. In this case, the evidence involves security portfolio funding and risk register has disparate monetary loss assumptions and untested threat probabilities.
D:Changing production before understanding the reported path could act on the wrong cause and disrupt service. In this case, the evidence involves security portfolio funding and risk register has disparate monetary loss assumptions and untested threat probabilities.
Question 37
In Insurance payment gateway, a security issue affects third-party software component: vendor library update introduces a vulnerable parser with transitive dependencies. The observed evidence is that build manifest references unsigned artifact outside the approved package registry. Operations must account for this constraint: release pipeline must preserve traceable supplier integrity. The team is authorized to introduce the selected control. Which implementation method best honors the stated constraint?
- Implement trusted registry pinning and automated policy checks in CI
- Require SBOM, signed provenance and SCA policy gates before release
- Rely only on a successful dynamic penetration scan of the interface
- Continuously compare deployed SBOMs with new advisories and patch ownership
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Implement trusted registry pinning and automated policy checks in CI provides a governed means to introduce the chosen safeguard while respecting release pipeline must preserve traceable supplier integrity. A sound design without a safe, authorized rollout does not establish operating protection.
Incorrect Answers
B:The design has already been selected and approved; choosing it again does not make a reversible operational change. In this case, the evidence involves third-party software component and build manifest references unsigned artifact outside the approved package registry.
C:A scan may miss vulnerable transitive code and cannot prove provenance. The immediate requirement for third-party software component is safe implementation, which this alternative does not provide.
D:Future assurance does not install the approved change under the current availability constraint. In this case, the evidence involves third-party software component and build manifest references unsigned artifact outside the approved package registry.
Question 38
In Multinational pharmacy network, a security issue affects privileged admin access: contract support personnel keep permanent global administrator tokens. The observed evidence is that PAM session logs show logins outside authorized maintenance tickets. Operations must account for this constraint: production medication distribution must remain recoverable. The new design passed review, but deployment must preserve critical services. Which controlled rollout best fits?
- Use just-in-time elevation with recorded sessions and scope-limited break-glass
- Review privileged-access exceptions and unlinked admin activity weekly
- Rely on a monthly attestation while preserving permanent global privileges
- Migrate standing grants to expiring delegated roles with emergency recovery test
Explanation
Correct Answer
D:Migrate standing grants to expiring delegated roles with emergency recovery test provides a governed means to introduce the chosen safeguard while respecting production medication distribution must remain recoverable. A sound design without a safe, authorized rollout does not establish operating protection.
Incorrect Answers
A:The design has already been selected and approved; choosing it again does not make a reversible operational change. In this case, the evidence involves privileged admin access and PAM session logs show logins outside authorized maintenance tickets.
B:Future assurance does not install the approved change under the current availability constraint. In this case, the evidence involves privileged admin access and PAM session logs show logins outside authorized maintenance tickets.
C:Administrative review does not remove exploitable standing privilege. The immediate requirement for privileged admin access is safe implementation, which this alternative does not provide.
Question 39
In International retail payment processor, a security issue affects high-volume data encryption: team proposes independent key for every field despite HSM throughput limits. The observed evidence is that latency test shows key-management calls dominate checkout path. Operations must account for this constraint: card processing cannot expose payment data to application operators. The team is authorized to introduce the selected control. Which implementation method best honors the stated constraint?
- Introduce key caching within strict expiry and auditable rotation policy
- Use envelope encryption with DEKs wrapped by protected KEKs and AEAD metadata
- Store the master KEK alongside the ciphertext in application configuration
- Track wrap-key access, rotation and ciphertext integrity failures
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Introduce key caching within strict expiry and auditable rotation policy provides a governed means to introduce the chosen safeguard while respecting card processing cannot expose payment data to application operators. A sound design without a safe, authorized rollout does not establish operating protection.
Incorrect Answers
B:The design has already been selected and approved; choosing it again does not make a reversible operational change. In this case, the evidence involves high-volume data encryption and latency test shows key-management calls dominate checkout path.
C:Co-location of KEK collapses the intended protection boundary. The immediate requirement for high-volume data encryption is safe implementation, which this alternative does not provide.
D:Future assurance does not install the approved change under the current availability constraint. In this case, the evidence involves high-volume data encryption and latency test shows key-management calls dominate checkout path.
Question 40
In Regional water authority, a security issue affects remote telemetry service: field concentrators trust commands from a shared regional access gateway. The observed evidence is that design review finds unauthenticated actuator message forwarding behind gateway. Operations must account for this constraint: pumping safety forbids uncontrolled test shutdown. A completed diagnosis now needs an enforceable control architecture. Which control best resolves the documented weakness?
- Assume internal placement behind a VPN is equivalent to command authorization
- Bind signed command identity to device and operator authorization at the controller
- Trace STRIDE-style spoofing and tampering routes through field-controller trust boundaries
- Update threat model as new partner concentrators or radio links are introduced
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Bind signed command identity to device and operator authorization at the controller is the durable measure that addresses the observed weakness: field concentrators trust commands from a shared regional access gateway. It must be enforceable while preserving the stated constraint: pumping safety forbids uncontrolled test shutdown.
Incorrect Answers
A:Network location does not prove message authenticity or operator privilege. The immediate requirement for remote telemetry service is durable control selection, which this alternative does not provide.
C:Investigation characterizes the problem, but the case already establishes the failure path and asks for an enforceable control. In this case, the evidence involves remote telemetry service and design review finds unauthenticated actuator message forwarding behind gateway.
D:Monitoring after rollout is not a substitute for specifying the control that should be enforced. In this case, the evidence involves remote telemetry service and design review finds unauthenticated actuator message forwarding behind gateway.