CCSM Advanced Firewall Troubleshooting Practice Question
A Check Point Security Gateway R81.10 is configured with CoreXL and has 8 firewall worker instances. The administrator observes that one specific CPU core is consistently at 100% utilization while others are lower. The administrator suspects an issue with CoreXL affinity or a specific heavy connection. Which command should the administrator use to view the per-core CPU utilization and the distribution of connections across firewall worker instances?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is using general CPU monitoring tools instead of CoreXL-specific commands to diagnose instance load imbalance.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
fw ctl multik stat
fw ctl multik stat is the dedicated command to view CoreXL instance statistics, including per-instance CPU usage and connection counts. It directly shows if one instance is overloaded, which would cause a single core to spike. Other commands lack the ability to correlate CPU usage with CoreXL instances, making them less effective for this specific troubleshooting task.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
fwaccel stats
Why it's wrong here
fwaccel stats provides SecureXL statistics, such as accelerated and non-accelerated packets. It does not show per-core CPU utilization or CoreXL instance connection distribution. SecureXL and CoreXL are separate acceleration technologies; this command is not relevant for diagnosing CoreXL load balancing.
- ✗
cpstat os -f cpu
Why it's wrong here
cpstat os -f cpu provides overall CPU statistics for the operating system, such as total usage per core, but it does not show the distribution of connections across firewall worker instances. It cannot correlate high CPU on a core with a specific CoreXL instance. Therefore, it is insufficient for diagnosing CoreXL load balancing issues.
- ✓
fw ctl multik stat
Why this is correct
fw ctl multik stat displays statistics for each CoreXL firewall worker instance, including the number of connections and packets processed, as well as CPU utilization per instance. It helps identify if one instance is handling a disproportionate load, which could explain a single core at 100%. This command is essential for troubleshooting CoreXL performance and affinity issues.
- ✗
top -H
Why it's wrong here
top -H shows threads and their CPU usage, which can indicate if a particular thread is consuming CPU. However, it does not map threads to CoreXL instances or show connection distribution. While useful for general performance monitoring, it lacks the specific CoreXL context needed to troubleshoot instance load imbalance.
About these practice questions
This CCSM question is part of Courseiva's 219-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Check Point exam blueprint
This CCSM practice question is part of Courseiva's free Check Point certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CCSM exam.