CS0-003 Vulnerability Management Practice Question
A vulnerability management team is evaluating a critical vulnerability in a legacy application that cannot be patched. The application is used by a small number of users internally. Which of the following is the best compensating control to reduce risk?
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
✓
Implement network segmentation to restrict access to the application
When patching is not possible, compensating controls like network segmentation can limit exposure. Disabling the application would impact business. Application whitelisting might be too broad. Encryption doesn't prevent exploitation of the vulnerability.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Implement network segmentation to restrict access to the application
Why this is correct
Implementing network segmentation isolates the vulnerable legacy application within a restricted network zone, such as a dedicated VLAN or DMZ. This control significantly reduces the attack surface by ensuring only authorized users and systems can communicate with the application, effectively mitigating the risk of lateral movement and unauthorized exploitation when no patch is available.
- ✗
Enable application whitelisting on all endpoints
Why it's wrong here
Application whitelisting (or application control) prevents unauthorized software from executing on endpoints. However, it does not prevent attackers from exploiting an inherent vulnerability within an already-approved, running legacy application. The vulnerability remains exposed to network-based attacks regardless of endpoint execution policies.
- ✗
Encrypt all data in transit
Why it's wrong here
While encrypting data in transit using protocols like TLS protects data confidentiality and integrity during transmission, it does not remediate or mitigate the underlying software vulnerability. Attackers can still send malicious payloads over the encrypted channel, which the application will decrypt and process, leading to successful exploitation.
- ✗
Disable the application until a patch is available
Why it's wrong here
Disabling a critical business application violates availability requirements and is often unacceptable to stakeholders, especially when no official patch is expected from the vendor. Security teams must balance risk mitigation with business continuity, making compensating controls like segmentation a more viable strategy than outright decommissioning.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Risk Scoring and Heat Maps
Key term
Vulnerability
A vulnerability is a weakness in a system, network, or software that could be exploited by a threat to cause harm or unauthorized access.
Key term
Impact
Impact is the measure of the potential damage or harm that a risk event could cause to an organization's assets, operations, or reputation.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CS0-004 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 CS0-004 exam.