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200-901 Practice Question: During a security audit, it is found that a…
During a security audit, it is found that a microservice exposes its internal IP address in error responses. This could help attackers map the network. What is the BEST remediation?
⚠ Common exam trap
Cisco often tests the misconception that network-level controls (firewalls, encryption) are sufficient to fix application-layer information disclosure, when in fact the application itself must sanitize its output.
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
✓
Configure the application to return generic error messages without internal details.
Exposing internal IP addresses in error responses violates the principle of least information disclosure. The best remediation is to configure the application to return generic error messages (e.g., HTTP 500 with a generic body) that strip out internal details like IP addresses, stack traces, or debug data. This prevents attackers from using error responses to map the internal network topology, a common information-gathering technique.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use a service mesh to encrypt traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Encrypting traffic with a service mesh conceals data in transit but leaves the error response body unchanged, so the internal IP still leaks to attackers. Service meshes suit mutual TLS and traffic policy between workloads; masking or suppressing internal details in error payloads is the actual fix here.
- ✗
Log the errors and monitor them.
Why it's wrong here
Logging and monitoring errors records the leak without removing the internal IP from responses, so attackers still receive it. Logging serves detection and post-incident forensics; remediation requires altering the error output itself, such as returning generic messages.
- ✓
Configure the application to return generic error messages without internal details.
Why this is correct
Returning generic error messages strips internal IP addresses, stack traces, and hostnames from responses, denying attackers network-mapping detail. This satisfies the audit's remediation requirement by removing the information disclosure at its source rather than merely filtering at the perimeter.
- ✗
Add a firewall to block external access to the service.
Why it's wrong here
A firewall blocking external access does not stop internal IPs appearing in error bodies returned to permitted clients, and the leak persists for any reachable caller. Firewalls suit perimeter filtering; sanitising error responses removes the disclosed address regardless of network path.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-901 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco 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 200-901 exam.