CSSLP Practice Test 8 — 10 Questions

Question 1

During a manual penetration test, you discover an insecure direct object reference (IDOR). What is the most appropriate next step in the test case design for this finding?

Accepted Answer

Attempt to access resources associated with other users.. After discovering an IDOR, the appropriate next step in test-case design is to attempt to access resources belonging to other users (B) to confirm the vulnerability is exploitable and to determine its scope. This validates the finding, demonstrates real impact, and provides evidence for the report — all within authorized testing boundaries.

Answer

Delete the record to prove the IDOR is exploitable.

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Report the finding immediately without further testing.

Answer

Run a full automated DAST scan against the entire application.

Question 2

Which TWO of the following are essential components of a Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC)?

Accepted Answer

Security requirements definition. Security requirements definition (C) is essential because the SSDLC must capture security and privacy requirements alongside functional requirements early in the lifecycle, so that controls such as authentication, encryption, and compliance obligations are designed in rather than bolted on later. Threat modeling (D) is essential because it systematically identifies potential threats, attack surfaces, and mitigations (e.g., using STRIDE or DREAD) during design, allowing architects to address risks before code is written. The other options do not belong: hardware procurement (A) is an infrastructure/logistics activity rather than a software security practice, marketing strategies (B) concern business promotion and are unrelated to secure development, and an unlimited project budget (E) is neither a security control nor a realistic or necessary SSDLC component.

Answer

Hardware procurement

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Marketing strategies

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Unlimited project budget

Question 3

You are designing an input validation strategy. Which technique provides the best defense against Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)?

Accepted Answer

Performing context-aware output encoding at the presentation layer.. Context-aware output encoding prevents browsers from interpreting user input as active content.

Answer

Using a centralized regex filter to strip HTML tags.

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Encrypting all user input before storing it in the database.

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Implementing a strict allow-list for all input fields.

Question 4

During threat modeling, you are asked to classify data sensitivity. Which outcome is the primary goal of this activity?

Accepted Answer

To identify which security controls and protection levels are required for specific data assets.. Data classification allows for the application of appropriate security controls based on the data's risk profile.

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To identify the database engine version.

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To automate the backup frequency of the database.

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To determine which data needs to be deleted periodically.

Question 5

You are using 'in-toto' to secure your software supply chain. What is the primary purpose of a 'layout' file in this framework?

Accepted Answer

To define the supply chain steps, actors, and expected artifacts.. The layout file specifies the authorized steps, the actors responsible for each step, and the expected artifacts, providing the policy for verifying the supply chain.

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To encrypt the source code repository.

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To generate the final SBOM document.

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To list all CVEs found in the dependencies.

Question 6

Which TWO of the following actions support the 'Open Design' security principle?

Accepted Answer

Publishing the system architecture for security review.. Option A is correct because the Open Design principle (Saltzer and Schroeder) holds that the security of a system should not depend on the secrecy of its design, so publishing the system architecture for security review allows scrutiny and verification by others without weakening security. Option B is correct because relying on standard, public cryptographic protocols like TLS embodies open design: the algorithms and protocols are openly specified and peer-reviewed, and security rests on the secrecy of keys rather than the obscurity of the mechanism. Option C does not belong because keeping API documentation private is a form of security through obscurity, which contradicts open design. Option D does not belong because hiding source code from developers is secrecy-based and impedes review, the opposite of openness. Option E does not belong because a proprietary, secret encryption algorithm relies on obscurity of the algorithm rather than open, vetted standards, which violates the Open Design principle.

Answer

Keeping the API endpoint documentation private.

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Hiding the source code from all development team members.

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Using a proprietary, secret encryption algorithm.

Question 7

During an incident response, you identify that a threat actor has gained unauthorized access to an application's environment variables. What is the immediate correct step to take regarding credential management?

Accepted Answer

Change the password for the database user and update the application deployment manifest.. When environment variables containing credentials are compromised, the immediate step is to rotate the exposed credentials—specifically, change the database user's password and update the application deployment manifest to use the new password. This invalidates the attacker's access and restores secure authentication. The other options do not address the credential compromise directly.

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Clear the application's cache to remove any temporary sensitive data.

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Increase the logging level to 'DEBUG' to track the attacker's actions.

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Re-deploy the application using the same configuration to ensure a clean state.

Question 8

When designing an automated pipeline to prevent supply chain attacks, which THREE of the following features should be included in your artifact registry?

Accepted Answer

Automated vulnerability scanning of stored artifacts.. Option C is correct because automated vulnerability scanning of stored artifacts detects known CVEs in container images and packages at push time, enabling the pipeline to block or quarantine compromised artifacts before they reach production. Option D is correct because immutable tags prevent an attacker or compromised build from overwriting an existing tag (e.g., re-pushing a malicious image under a trusted 'latest' or version tag), which is a common supply chain attack vector; immutability ensures a tag always resolves to the same digest. Option E is correct because granular RBAC enforces least privilege, restricting who can push, pull, or delete artifacts and preventing unauthorized modification or injection of malicious images into the registry. Option A does not belong because auto-scaling storage addresses availability and capacity, not supply chain security. Option B does not belong because translating code into multiple languages is unrelated to artifact registry security and is not a registry feature.

Answer

Auto-scaling of the registry's storage capacity.

Answer

Automatic translation of code into multiple languages.

Question 9

Which THREE configuration management practices help reduce 'Configuration Drift' in a secure software environment?

Accepted Answer

Implementing automated drift detection and remediation tools.. Option A is correct because automated drift detection and remediation tools continuously compare running configurations against a known-good baseline and automatically reapply the desired state, catching and correcting unauthorized or accidental changes before they persist. Option B is correct because immutable infrastructure replaces instances with freshly built, versioned images instead of patching live systems, so no long-lived server accumulates undocumented changes and drift cannot compound over time. Option D is correct because declarative IaC tools such as Terraform or CloudFormation define the desired end state in version-controlled code and reconcile actual resources to that state, making configuration reproducible and auditable. Option C is wrong because disabling automated deployment pipelines removes the consistent, repeatable mechanism that prevents drift and forces error-prone manual changes. Option E is wrong because allowing manual configuration changes via the SSH console is itself a primary cause of configuration drift, since out-of-band edits bypass version control and baseline enforcement.

Answer

Disabling all automated deployment pipelines.

Answer

Allowing manual configuration changes via the SSH console.

Question 10

A developer wants to ensure that a web application is resistant to SQL injection. Which test case should be included in the automated test suite?

Accepted Answer

Injecting characters like single quotes (') and comments (--) into input fields.. Testing for SQL injection involves sending input that contains special characters (like quotes) to see if the database engine returns an error or executes the injected command.

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Changing the user agent header to a random string.

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Uploading a large file to test buffer overflow.

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Adding a long string to an email field.