ISC CISSP Practice Test 58
Question 570
A hospital grants emergency medical record access using a permanent broadly privileged 'break-glass' account used daily. A designer proposes: Keep the emergency account available for all ordinary staff tasks. What is the MOST significant security deficiency in this proposal?
- An identity dependency outage requires controlled alternate availability while preserving oversight.
- Nonhuman accounts require the same accountability and lifecycle principles as human accounts.
- Routine use defeats least privilege and erodes emergency audit signals.
- Orphaned long-lived tokens create persistent exploitable paths.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Routine use defeats least privilege and erodes emergency audit signals. This is the direct weakness in the proposed action.
Incorrect Answers
A:This explains a later shift in requirements (A major outage disables the primary identity provider during active critical care.), not the failure of the current proposal.
B:This is an advantage of another design (Inventory service identities, assign owners and automate periodic key or token rotation with least-privilege review.), not the particular flaw of Keep the emergency account available for all ordinary staff tasks.
D:This is a limitation elsewhere: An enterprise lacks identity change controls for automated service accounts used by multiple application teams. It does not explain the deficiency of the specified proposed approach.
Question 571
A hospital grants emergency medical record access using a permanent broadly privileged 'break-glass' account used daily. The organization has now implemented this response: Restrict exceptional access to emergency use with heightened logging and retrospective review. Which observation would MOST directly demonstrate that the security objective was met?
- Audit-role tests confirm denied writes and automatic account expiration.
- An approved change ticket for Restrict exceptional access to emergency use with heightened logging and retrospective review. without a completed verification result.
- Simulated emergency entry is logged and normal activities reject emergency-only access.
- Command logs connect approved named elevation to individual changes and expirations.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:Simulated emergency entry is logged and normal activities reject emergency-only access. This validates that break-glass should be exceptional and accountable, not routine broad access.
Incorrect Answers
A:This other observation is relevant to: A financial services company hires temporary auditors but provides permanent access to every cloud project.
B:An approved change without an executed test cannot prove operating effectiveness. The needed evidence is Simulated emergency entry is logged and normal activities reject emergency-only access.
D:This demonstrates controls in another circumstance: A shared root account is used to administer production Linux servers, preventing attribution of destructive changes.
Question 572
A previous security situation was: A hospital grants emergency medical record access using a permanent broadly privileged 'break-glass' account used daily. Now the requirement changes: A major outage disables the primary identity provider during active critical care. Which NEW action BEST answers the changed need?
- Keep the emergency account available for all ordinary staff tasks.
- Simulated emergency entry is logged and normal activities reject emergency-only access.
- Enable a tested local emergency identity path with defined expiry and independent audit.
- Restrict exceptional access to emergency use with heightened logging and retrospective review.
Explanation
Correct Answer
C:An identity dependency outage requires controlled alternate availability while preserving oversight. The revised action is Enable a tested local emergency identity path with defined expiry and independent audit.
Incorrect Answers
A:This remains inappropriate: Routine use defeats least privilege and erodes emergency audit signals.
B:This is a record of how the initial safeguard would be checked, not an action implementing the newly requested condition: Simulated emergency entry is logged and normal activities reject emergency-only access.
D:This is the appropriate response to the original situation: Break-glass should be exceptional and accountable, not routine broad access. It does not directly meet the new condition.
Question 573
A bank's help desk lets anyone reset an administrator's MFA factor after answering two publicly known personal questions. What should the security manager recommend as the MOST appropriate response to the current requirement?
- Replace phishable factors with origin-bound passkeys or equivalent phishing-resistant authentication.
- Require high-assurance identity verification and dual-control recovery for privileged factors.
- Treat knowledge of public profile details as sufficient for privileged factor reset.
- Revoke token registration and re-enroll a trusted device using approved recovery.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Weak recovery can bypass the strongest authentication mechanisms. This directly addresses the stated situation.
Incorrect Answers
A:This response addresses a different condition: A privileged portal uses SMS codes that users often enter into attacker-operated lookalike sign-in pages. The present case requires the measure described by Require high-assurance identity verification and dual-control recovery for privileged factors.
C:Attackers often know or can obtain common personal answers. The proposal would not be defensible for this case.
D:This is appropriate for a later condition (An administrator reports a verified stolen hardware token.), but it does not directly resolve the initial need. Compromised authenticators require lifecycle revocation beyond strengthening proofing.
Question 574
A bank's help desk lets anyone reset an administrator's MFA factor after answering two publicly known personal questions. A designer proposes: Treat knowledge of public profile details as sufficient for privileged factor reset. What is the MOST significant security deficiency in this proposal?
- Logout and account revocation controls must address all active authorization artifacts.
- Attackers often know or can obtain common personal answers.
- Browser closure does not automatically revoke remote bearer credentials.
- Compromised authenticators require lifecycle revocation beyond strengthening proofing.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Attackers often know or can obtain common personal answers. This is the direct weakness in the proposed action.
Incorrect Answers
A:This is an advantage of another design (Revoke relevant sessions and refresh tokens on sign-out or critical risk events according to policy.), not the particular flaw of Treat knowledge of public profile details as sufficient for privileged factor reset.
C:This is a limitation elsewhere: An employee signs out of a SaaS platform but long-lived API tokens still allow continued account access. It does not explain the deficiency of the specified proposed approach.
D:This explains a later shift in requirements (An administrator reports a verified stolen hardware token.), not the failure of the current proposal.
Question 575
A bank's help desk lets anyone reset an administrator's MFA factor after answering two publicly known personal questions. The organization has now implemented this response: Require high-assurance identity verification and dual-control recovery for privileged factors. Which observation would MOST directly demonstrate that the security objective was met?
- An approved change ticket for Require high-assurance identity verification and dual-control recovery for privileged factors. without a completed verification result.
- Impostor recovery attempts fail and approved recovery has an accountable audit trail.
- Fraud simulations trigger step-up or denial while ordinary low-risk payments proceed.
- Reverse-proxy phishing tests fail for properly registered and enforced authenticators.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Impostor recovery attempts fail and approved recovery has an accountable audit trail. This validates that weak recovery can bypass the strongest authentication mechanisms.
Incorrect Answers
A:An approved change without an executed test cannot prove operating effectiveness. The needed evidence is Impostor recovery attempts fail and approved recovery has an accountable audit trail.
C:This demonstrates controls in another circumstance: A user from an unfamiliar country makes a high-value transaction immediately after an impossible-travel sign-in anomaly.
D:This other observation is relevant to: A privileged portal uses SMS codes that users often enter into attacker-operated lookalike sign-in pages.
Question 576
A previous security situation was: A bank's help desk lets anyone reset an administrator's MFA factor after answering two publicly known personal questions. Now the requirement changes: An administrator reports a verified stolen hardware token. Which NEW action BEST answers the changed need?
- Impostor recovery attempts fail and approved recovery has an accountable audit trail.
- Revoke token registration and re-enroll a trusted device using approved recovery.
- Require high-assurance identity verification and dual-control recovery for privileged factors.
- Treat knowledge of public profile details as sufficient for privileged factor reset.
Explanation
Correct Answer
B:Compromised authenticators require lifecycle revocation beyond strengthening proofing. The revised action is Revoke token registration and re-enroll a trusted device using approved recovery.
Incorrect Answers
A:This is a record of how the initial safeguard would be checked, not an action implementing the newly requested condition: Impostor recovery attempts fail and approved recovery has an accountable audit trail.
C:This is the appropriate response to the original situation: Weak recovery can bypass the strongest authentication mechanisms. It does not directly meet the new condition.
D:This remains inappropriate: Attackers often know or can obtain common personal answers.
Question 577
An employee signs out of a SaaS platform but long-lived API tokens still allow continued account access. What should the security manager recommend as the MOST appropriate response to the current requirement?
- Revoke relevant sessions and refresh tokens on sign-out or critical risk events according to policy.
- Assume closing the browser invalidates every server-issued token.
- Separate machine credentials with scoped expiration and explicit owner.
- Require high-assurance identity verification and dual-control recovery for privileged factors.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Logout and account revocation controls must address all active authorization artifacts. This directly addresses the stated situation.
Incorrect Answers
B:Browser closure does not automatically revoke remote bearer credentials. The proposal would not be defensible for this case.
C:This is appropriate for a later condition (A legitimate background job now requires unattended access under a service account.), but it does not directly resolve the initial need. Noninteractive workload authorization should not depend on a person's terminated session.
D:This response addresses a different condition: A bank's help desk lets anyone reset an administrator's MFA factor after answering two publicly known personal questions. The present case requires the measure described by Revoke relevant sessions and refresh tokens on sign-out or critical risk events according to policy.
Question 578
An employee signs out of a SaaS platform but long-lived API tokens still allow continued account access. A designer proposes: Assume closing the browser invalidates every server-issued token. What is the MOST significant security deficiency in this proposal?
- Browser closure does not automatically revoke remote bearer credentials.
- Single-factor success does not resolve anomalous high-risk session conditions.
- Noninteractive workload authorization should not depend on a person's terminated session.
- Contextual anomalies justify additional assurance before high-impact operations.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Browser closure does not automatically revoke remote bearer credentials. This is the direct weakness in the proposed action.
Incorrect Answers
B:This is a limitation elsewhere: A user from an unfamiliar country makes a high-value transaction immediately after an impossible-travel sign-in anomaly. It does not explain the deficiency of the specified proposed approach.
C:This explains a later shift in requirements (A legitimate background job now requires unattended access under a service account.), not the failure of the current proposal.
D:This is an advantage of another design (Apply risk-based step-up, transaction limits or denial according to verified policy.), not the particular flaw of Assume closing the browser invalidates every server-issued token.
Question 579
An employee signs out of a SaaS platform but long-lived API tokens still allow continued account access. The organization has now implemented this response: Revoke relevant sessions and refresh tokens on sign-out or critical risk events according to policy. Which observation would MOST directly demonstrate that the security objective was met?
- Revocation tests fail for previously issued refresh and access paths after the defined propagation window.
- Reverse-proxy phishing tests fail for properly registered and enforced authenticators.
- Impostor recovery attempts fail and approved recovery has an accountable audit trail.
- An approved change ticket for Revoke relevant sessions and refresh tokens on sign-out or critical risk events according to policy. without a completed verification result.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Revocation tests fail for previously issued refresh and access paths after the defined propagation window. This validates that logout and account revocation controls must address all active authorization artifacts.
Incorrect Answers
B:This demonstrates controls in another circumstance: A privileged portal uses SMS codes that users often enter into attacker-operated lookalike sign-in pages.
C:This other observation is relevant to: A bank's help desk lets anyone reset an administrator's MFA factor after answering two publicly known personal questions.
D:An approved change without an executed test cannot prove operating effectiveness. The needed evidence is Revocation tests fail for previously issued refresh and access paths after the defined propagation window.
Question 580
A previous security situation was: An employee signs out of a SaaS platform but long-lived API tokens still allow continued account access. Now the requirement changes: A legitimate background job now requires unattended access under a service account. Which NEW action BEST answers the changed need?
- Separate machine credentials with scoped expiration and explicit owner.
- Revoke relevant sessions and refresh tokens on sign-out or critical risk events according to policy.
- Assume closing the browser invalidates every server-issued token.
- Revocation tests fail for previously issued refresh and access paths after the defined propagation window.
Explanation
Correct Answer
A:Noninteractive workload authorization should not depend on a person's terminated session. The revised action is Separate machine credentials with scoped expiration and explicit owner.
Incorrect Answers
B:This is the appropriate response to the original situation: Logout and account revocation controls must address all active authorization artifacts. It does not directly meet the new condition.
C:This remains inappropriate: Browser closure does not automatically revoke remote bearer credentials.
D:This is a record of how the initial safeguard would be checked, not an action implementing the newly requested condition: Revocation tests fail for previously issued refresh and access paths after the defined propagation window.