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CAS-004 Is hardening a container image Practice Question

A security engineer is hardening a container image. Which practice is MOST effective in reducing the attack surface?

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

✓

Using a minimal base image

Using a minimal base image (e.g., Alpine, Distroless) removes unnecessary packages and binaries, significantly reducing the attack surface. Running as root increases risk. Antivirus is not typical in containers. Latest packages are good but do not reduce surface.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

  • ✗

    Running containers as root

    Why it's wrong here

    Root privileges inside the container increase the impact of a compromise.

  • ✓

    Using a minimal base image

    Why this is correct

    A minimal image contains only the essentials, reducing the number of potential vulnerabilities.

  • ✗

    Adding antivirus software

    Why it's wrong here

    Antivirus adds overhead and is not a primary hardening technique for containers.

  • ✗

    Using the latest version of all packages

    Why it's wrong here

    While patching is important, it does not reduce the number of attack vectors; it only mitigates known vulnerabilities.

About these practice questions

One of 968 original CAS-005 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →

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JA

Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security

Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva

This CAS-005 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 CAS-005 exam.