PCNSA Practice Test 5 — 10 Questions

Question 1

After a policy change, a security administrator commits the candidate configuration, but the changes do not take effect immediately for all users. Some users report connectivity issues while others do not. What should the administrator check first?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

The commit was successful but the changes are applied only to new sessions, not existing sessions.. In PAN-OS, committing a candidate configuration pushes the new policy into the running configuration, but security policy evaluation happens at session setup. Existing sessions continue to be evaluated against the policy that was in force when the session was created, so users with long-lived or already-established sessions keep the old behavior while users opening new sessions get the new rule. This explains why only some users report issues after the commit.

Answer

The new rule has an incorrect source zone.

Answer

There is a mismatch between the virtual wire vs layer3 interface.

Answer

The committed configuration is still in candidate state.

Question 2

A firewall administrator notices that a security rule intended to block traffic from a specific IP address is not working. The rule is placed at the bottom of the security rulebase, and the traffic is being allowed by a rule higher in the list. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The rule is positioned below an allow rule that matches the same traffic.. The Palo Alto Networks firewall evaluates security rules in top-down order, from the first rule in the rulebase to the last. If a rule that allows traffic is placed higher in the list, it will match and permit the traffic before the lower-placed block rule is ever evaluated. The block rule at the bottom is effectively never reached for that traffic, which is why the intended blocking action fails.

Answer

The source IP is negated in the rule.

Answer

The rule is placed at the top of the rulebase and overridden by a later rule.

Answer

The rule is disabled in the rulebase.

Question 3

An organization deploys SSL Forward Proxy decryption. They want to ensure that traffic to financial websites is not decrypted due to compliance requirements. Which decryption policy configuration should be used?

Accepted Answer

Create a decryption rule with action 'No Decrypt' for the URL category 'Financial Services'.. SSL Forward Proxy decryption rules are evaluated in order, and the first matching rule determines the action. To exclude financial websites from decryption, you must create a rule with action 'No Decrypt' that matches the 'Financial Services' URL category. This ensures traffic to those sites is not decrypted, meeting compliance requirements.

Answer

Create a decryption rule with action 'Decrypt' and destination zone 'Untrust'.

Answer

Create a decryption rule with action 'No Decrypt' for all traffic, then a rule above it to decrypt all other traffic.

Answer

Create a decryption rule with action 'Decrypt' for the URL category 'Financial Services'.

Question 4

A network engineer wants to configure a new VLAN interface on a Palo Alto Networks firewall. After creating the VLAN object and assigning it to an Ethernet interface, the VLAN interface remains down. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The Ethernet interface is not set to layer 2 mode or the VLAN tag is not allowed. For a VLAN interface to be operational on a Palo Alto Networks firewall, the underlying Ethernet interface must be configured in Layer 2 mode and the specific VLAN tag must be allowed on that interface. If the Ethernet interface remains in Layer 3 mode or the VLAN tag is not included in the allowed list, the VLAN interface will remain administratively down, as it cannot associate with a physical port that is not set to accept VLAN traffic.

Answer

The VLAN interface needs an IP address configured

Answer

The VLAN interface must be assigned to a virtual router

Answer

The firewall needs a commit to apply the changes

Question 5

After upgrading the PAN-OS version on a firewall, the administrator notices that the commit operation takes significantly longer than before. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The upgrade triggered a full commit of the entire configuration, which takes longer than a partial commit.. After a PAN-OS upgrade, the firewall performs a full commit of the entire configuration, which processes all configuration objects, rules, and policies from scratch. This is inherently slower than a partial commit, which only processes changed objects. The full commit is a standard post-upgrade behavior to ensure configuration consistency with the new code base.

Answer

The firewall's CPU and memory are insufficient for the new PAN-OS version.

Answer

The firewall is performing a backup of the configuration.

Answer

The rulebase has grown too large.

Question 6

A company is deploying a PA-220 firewall in a branch office. The firewall will be managed by Panorama. Which THREE of the following are required to establish a successful connection between the firewall and Panorama?

Accepted Answer

Configuration of the Panorama IP address on the firewall. The firewall must be configured with the Panorama IP address (or hostname) to initiate the management connection. This is typically done via the Panorama tab in the web interface or CLI using the 'set deviceconfig system panorama-server <IP>' command. Without this configuration, the firewall does not know where to send its registration and operational data.

Answer

DNS resolution for the Panorama hostname

Answer

A DHCP server to assign an IP to the management interface

Question 7

A firewall is configured to decrypt SSH traffic. Which type of decryption must be enabled?

Accepted Answer

SSH Proxy. SSH traffic uses its own encryption protocol, not SSL/TLS. To decrypt SSH traffic, the firewall must act as a man-in-the-middle using an SSH proxy, which terminates the client's SSH connection and establishes a separate SSH session with the server, allowing inspection of the plaintext content. This is distinct from SSL decryption methods.

Answer

SSL Forward Proxy

Answer

Inbound Inspection

Answer

Decryption Mirror

Question 8

A company is deploying multiple Palo Alto firewalls and wants to manage them centrally. Which method should be used?

Accepted Answer

Use Panorama. Panorama is the centralized management solution for Palo Alto Networks firewalls, providing a single pane of glass for policy management, log aggregation, and device configuration across multiple firewalls. It uses a dedicated management plane that communicates with firewalls via the management interface (MGT) or in-band using IPsec tunnels, ensuring consistent policy enforcement and simplified administration.

Answer

Use CLI scripts

Answer

Use a dedicated management server

Answer

Use SNMP

Question 9

Which TWO are valid methods to decrypt SSL/TLS traffic on a Palo Alto Networks firewall? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

SSL Inbound Inspection. SSL Inbound Inspection (C) is a valid decryption method: the firewall is configured with the server's certificate and private key so it can decrypt traffic destined to an internal server, which is the standard approach for protecting inbound connections to your own web servers. SSL Forward Proxy (E) is also valid: the firewall acts as a man-in-the-middle, generating a forged certificate signed by a trusted CA and decrypting outbound client-initiated SSL/TLS sessions to inspect them. The other options are not decryption methods for SSL/TLS: IPsec Decryption (A) applies to IPsec VPN traffic, not SSL/TLS; SSH Proxy (B) is for controlling SSH sessions, not decrypting SSL/TLS; and Decryption Mirror (D) is a feature for copying decrypted traffic to a destination for analysis, not a method to decrypt SSL/TLS itself.

Answer

IPsec Decryption

Answer

SSH Proxy

Answer

Decryption Mirror

Question 10

Users report that some internal services are not accessible when connected via VPN, but they work when on the local network. The firewall has a policy allowing all traffic from the VPN zone to the internal zone. What should the administrator check first?

Accepted Answer

Check if there are NAT rules that affect the VPN zone traffic, such as missing reverse NAT.. When internal services work on the local network but fail over VPN, and the security policy allows VPN-to-internal traffic, the most likely culprit is NAT. If the VPN zone traffic is being source-NATed (e.g., to an interface IP) or if reverse NAT is missing for return traffic, the internal servers may not have a route back or may reject the connection. Checking NAT rules affecting the VPN zone, including reverse NAT, is the first logical step.

Answer

Check if SSL decryption is breaking the traffic.

Answer

Check if the zone protection profile is dropping traffic.

Answer

Check if the security policy rule order is correct.