CKS System Hardening Practice Question
Which TWO AppArmor modes are available? (Select 2)
⚠ Common exam trap
The CNCF CKS exam often tests the distinction between AppArmor modes and profile rule keywords, leading candidates to confuse 'audit' (a rule keyword) or 'unconfined' (a process state) with actual operational modes.
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
✓
enforce
AppArmor provides exactly two operational modes for a profile: enforce (option A) and complain (option B). In enforce mode, the profile's rules are actively applied and any access that violates the policy is denied and logged, which is the default mode for loaded profiles. In complain mode, violations are not blocked but are instead logged as complaints, allowing administrators to test and refine a profile before enforcing it. The other options are not AppArmor modes: audit (C) is not a mode but rather a logging facility/flag, allow (D) is not an AppArmor mode (it resembles SELinux terminology or a policy rule action), and unconfined (E) describes a process with no profile attached, not a selectable profile mode.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
enforce
Why this is correct
Enforce mode applies the loaded profile's rules and actively blocks any operation they deny, logging violations. This satisfies the question's requirement for a valid AppArmor mode, alongside complain mode, which permits actions but records them.
- ✓
complain
Why this is correct
In AppArmor, the `complain` mode logs policy violations without enforcing them, allowing administrators to audit application behaviour before switching to enforcement. This satisfies the question’s requirement for an available operational mode distinct from `enforce`, which blocks non-compliant actions. The axis of difference is logging versus blocking: `complain` records denials passively, whereas `enforce` actively prevents them.
- ✗
audit
Why it's wrong here
Audit is not an AppArmor mode; it is a flag combined with enforce or complain to log confined actions without blocking them. It tempts because audit logging sounds like a profile state, yet the two selectable modes are enforce and complain.
- ✗
allow
Why it's wrong here
Allow is not an AppArmor mode; it is a rule action inside a profile, permitting specific file or capability access. It tempts because profiles contain allow rules, yet the two modes are enforce, which blocks violations, and complain, which only logs them.
- ✗
unconfined
Why it's wrong here
Unconfined is not one of the two AppArmor profile modes; it describes a process running without any profile applied. It tempts because unconfined processes appear in tooling output, but the selectable modes are enforce and complain.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This CKS question is part of Courseiva's 845-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 by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CKS practice question is part of Courseiva's free CNCF 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 CKS exam.