CSSLP Practice Test 16 — 15 Questions

Question 1

Which of the following is a key component of a 'Secure Software Deployment' plan?

Accepted Answer

A rollback procedure that allows returning to a known good state.. A secure software deployment plan must include a tested rollback procedure so that if a release introduces a vulnerability, breaks functionality, or is exploited, the team can rapidly return to a known good state. Rollback is a core deployment safety control because it bounds the blast radius and downtime of a failed or compromised release. Without it, recovery from a bad deployment depends on ad-hoc fixes under pressure, which is exactly when security mistakes happen.

Answer

A list of all developers who worked on the release.

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A plan for decommissioning all previous versions of the software.

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An automated script that changes the administrator password on every server.

Question 2

Which THREE items should be included in a 'Security Requirements Traceability Matrix'?

Accepted Answer

Associated project feature or module. A Security Requirements Traceability Matrix (SRTM) maps each security requirement to the parts of the system that implement it, so the associated project feature or module (A) is correct because it identifies where the requirement is realized. The test case or verification method (B) is correct because the SRTM must show how each requirement will be validated or verified, providing bidirectional traceability from requirement to test. The unique security requirement ID (D) is correct because a stable identifier is the key that links the requirement to its feature, test, and status throughout the lifecycle. The developer's annual salary (C) is a personnel/HR cost detail with no traceability value, and the vendor's hardware serial numbers (E) are asset inventory data, not requirement-to-implementation or requirement-to-verification mappings, so neither belongs in an SRTM.

Answer

The developer's annual salary

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The vendor's hardware serial numbers

Question 3

A supplier asks you to describe your 'Supply Chain Security Policy'. What is the most appropriate foundational element to include?

Accepted Answer

Requirement for an SBOM for all delivered software.. A secure supply chain policy must start with a requirement for software transparency, typically in the form of an SBOM for all delivered software.

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Requirement for 100% code coverage in unit tests.

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Requirement to use proprietary code only.

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Requirement for the supplier to perform a full system wipe.

Question 4

You are determining compliance requirements for a software product that handles PII. Which requirement is essential for demonstrating 'Privacy by Design'?

Accepted Answer

Enforce data minimization throughout the lifecycle. Privacy by Design, as articulated by Ann Cavoukian and embedded in GDPR Article 25 and NIST Privacy Framework, requires that personal data be minimized — collected only when necessary, used only for stated purposes, and retained only as long as needed. Enforcing data minimization throughout the lifecycle directly implements the 'data minimization' and 'purpose limitation' principles, reducing privacy risk by limiting the attack surface and exposure of PII.

Answer

Use the largest possible key size

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Implement full data retention

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Outsource all PII processing

Question 5

When evaluating a vendor's open-source usage, which factor is the strongest indicator of a proactive security posture?

Accepted Answer

The vendor maintains a documented process for tracking and patching vulnerable components.. A documented process for tracking and patching vulnerable components demonstrates an ongoing, repeatable capability to identify and remediate open-source vulnerabilities, which is the hallmark of a proactive security posture. It shows the vendor monitors advisories (e.g., CVEs, NVD, GitHub Security Advisories), maintains an SBOM, and has SLAs for patching. Static lists or version freshness alone do not prove the vendor can respond to newly disclosed vulnerabilities.

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The vendor provides a static list of libraries once a year.

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The vendor does not use any open-source software.

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The vendor uses only the newest versions of all libraries.

Question 6

Which TWO factors are critical when identifying compliance requirements for software that processes cross-border financial transactions?

Accepted Answer

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. Option C (Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations) is correct because cross-border financial transaction software must comply with AML rules such as customer due diligence, suspicious activity reporting, and transaction monitoring, which are legally mandated in most jurisdictions. Option E (Financial data privacy laws in all jurisdictions) is correct because processing financial data across borders means the software must satisfy each country's data protection and privacy requirements, such as GDPR, PIPEDA, or LGPD, including rules on cross-border data transfers. Option A (social media marketing strategy) is irrelevant because marketing does not determine legal compliance obligations for financial transaction processing. Option B (office paint color standards) is irrelevant because workplace aesthetics have no bearing on financial regulatory compliance. Option D (the developer's preferred IDE) is irrelevant because a development tool choice does not affect compliance requirements.

Answer

The social media marketing strategy

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Office paint color standards

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The developer's preferred IDE

Question 7

A security engineer is configuring SonarQube for a Java project. Which configuration step ensures that the SAST scan accurately identifies injection vulnerabilities by analyzing data flow paths?

Accepted Answer

Enable the 'Security Hotspots' and 'Taint Analysis' rule categories in the active Quality Profile.. The analysis of data flow paths requires the enablement of security hotspots and taint analysis rules in the Quality Profile.

Answer

null

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Set the analysis mode to 'Incremental' only.

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Increase the heap memory allocation for the JVM running the scanner.

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Configure the 'Exclude' patterns to include all library dependencies.

Question 8

Which TWO of the following strategies best implement the principle of 'Separation of Duties' in an application design?

Accepted Answer

Requiring two distinct roles to approve a production code deployment.. Option B is correct because requiring two distinct roles to approve a production code deployment enforces dual control (a two-person rule), so no single individual can unilaterally push code to production, which is a direct implementation of Separation of Duties. Option D is correct because separating administrative duties between security and system roles ensures that the person configuring systems is not the same person controlling security policy, preventing any one admin from both making and approving privileged changes. Options A, C, and E are incorrect because granting developers full access to production backups, using a single shared admin account, and letting one admin manage all user accounts each concentrate powerful privileges in one identity or role, which violates rather than implements Separation of Duties.

Answer

Granting developers full access to production database backups.

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Using a single shared admin account for all system functions.

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Allowing a single admin to manage all user accounts.

Question 9

Which THREE of the following are key components of a 'Secure Design Review' process?

Accepted Answer

Validating the architecture against established security patterns.. A Secure Design Review is a pre-implementation activity that examines the design artifacts rather than the running code. Option C is correct because validating the architecture against established security patterns (e.g., defense in depth, least privilege, secure defaults) ensures the design avoids known anti-patterns before code is written. Option D is correct because reviewing security requirements for traceability confirms that every stated security requirement maps to a design element and can be verified later, which is a core goal of the review. Option E is correct because evaluating the threat model for completeness ensures all relevant threats, trust boundaries, and attack surfaces have been identified and addressed at design time. Option A is not part of a design review since writing final deployment documentation is a release/operations task, not a design-time security assessment. Option B is not part of a design review because dynamic analysis runs against a built, executing application, whereas the design review occurs before implementation.

Answer

Writing the final deployment documentation.

Answer

Performing dynamic analysis on the final build.

Question 10

A security analyst notices anomalous outbound traffic from a containerized microservice that was recently deployed. Which Kubernetes feature should be used to restrict this traffic to only known authorized endpoints?

Accepted Answer

Apply a NetworkPolicy object that defines specific egress rules for the application namespace.. A NetworkPolicy object with specific egress rules is correct because Kubernetes NetworkPolicy provides pod-level, namespace-scoped control over ingress and egress traffic. By defining egress rules that allow only known authorized endpoints (IP blocks, ports, or namespace selectors), the analyst can restrict the microservice's outbound traffic. This directly addresses anomalous outbound connections at the network layer.

Answer

Enable the Kubernetes Audit Log and monitor for kubectl exec commands.

Answer

Configure PodSecurityPolicies to restrict the containers to non-root users.

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Install a Service Mesh like Istio to enforce mTLS.

Question 11

Which TWO of the following design patterns improve the resilience of a secure system?

Accepted Answer

Fail-safe defaults.. Fail-safe defaults (A) improve resilience because a system that denies access by default when it fails or is misconfigured prevents unauthorized entry, keeping the secure state intact under adverse conditions. Fail-secure system design (D) is correct because on failure the system defaults to a secure, locked state (e.g., doors lock, access is denied), preserving confidentiality and integrity even during outages or attacks. Together these patterns ensure that errors or failures do not open the system to compromise. Option B is wrong because allowing all traffic on port 80 for compatibility removes filtering and exposes the system to unauthorized access. Option C is wrong because security through obscurity relies on secrecy of design rather than sound controls and fails once the design is discovered. Option E is wrong because hard-coded credentials create a static, exploitable secret that undermines authentication and recovery security.

Answer

Allowing all traffic on port 80 for compatibility.

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Security through obscurity.

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Hard-coding credentials for quick recovery.

Question 12

A financial services firm is designing a new internal microservices platform. The architecture team wants to reduce the blast radius of a compromised service account while still allowing services to authenticate to one another. Which TWO design measures best support this goal? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Issue each service a distinct workload identity with short-lived credentials and narrowly scoped permissions, so a stolen token grants access only to that service's own resources.. Reducing blast radius requires that a compromised service cannot act as other services and cannot reach resources beyond its own scope. Distinct short-lived workload identities enforce least privilege per service, while mutual TLS ensures every call is cryptographically tied to a verified peer. Together they contain the damage of any single compromise. Shared credentials, network-only isolation, and extended token lifetimes all weaken containment by broadening what a stolen identity can do.

Answer

Store a single shared service account credential in a central secrets vault and inject it into every service at startup to simplify rotation.

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Rely on the Kubernetes NetworkPolicy default-deny rule to prevent a compromised service from reaching any other service, since network isolation alone removes the need for service-level authentication.

Answer

Increase the token lifetime for all service credentials to 24 hours so that rotation outages do not disrupt inter-service calls during business hours.

Question 13

A software architect is designing a system where data must remain accessible even if the primary database server fails. They implement a synchronous database replication strategy. Which core security concept is being prioritized?

Accepted Answer

Availability. Availability is prioritized by ensuring data access despite server failure through replication.

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Non-repudiation

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Integrity

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Confidentiality

Question 14

Which THREE factors must be considered when defining 'Compliance Requirements' for an international software product?

Accepted Answer

Data residency and sovereignty laws. Data residency and sovereignty laws (A) are essential because they dictate where data may be stored and processed, directly shaping architecture and compliance obligations for an international product. Industry-specific standards such as PCI DSS and HIPAA (B) impose mandatory security and handling controls whenever the product processes payment card data or protected health information. Privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA (C) define lawful processing, consent, data subject rights, and cross-border transfer rules that must be built into the product. By contrast, the developers' preferred coding language (D) is an implementation preference with no bearing on regulatory compliance, and the marketing budget (E) is a business/financial matter unrelated to defining compliance requirements.

Answer

The preferred coding language of the developers

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The marketing budget of the product

Question 15

You are designing a secure pipeline using Jenkins. To ensure integrity, what is the best practice for managing build artifacts?

Accepted Answer

Using digital signatures to verify artifact integrity before deployment.. Digitally signing artifacts ensures that they have not been tampered with between the build stage and deployment, maintaining supply chain integrity.

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Storing artifacts in a public S3 bucket for easy access.

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Deleting build artifacts immediately after the deployment to production.

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Uploading artifacts to a shared developer network drive.