mediumMultiple Choice
CS0-003 Practice Question: An analyst is reviewing scan results and finds…
An analyst is reviewing scan results and finds that a critical vulnerability is present on 50 workstations. The vendor has released a patch, but the IT team is concerned about potential compatibility issues. Which of the following should the analyst recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA often tests the misconception that immediate patching is always the best response, but the trap here is that the question explicitly highlights 'potential compatibility issues,' requiring the candidate to prioritize risk management over speed, making 'test on a subset' the correct choice over 'deploy immediately.'
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
✓
Test the patch on a subset before full deployment
The IT team's concern about compatibility issues necessitates a controlled rollout. Testing the patch on a subset of workstations allows the analyst to validate that the patch does not break critical business applications or system functionality before full deployment, aligning with the vulnerability management principle of staged patching to minimize operational risk.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Remove the vulnerable software
Why it's wrong here
Uninstalling the vulnerable software entirely eliminates the workstations' business functionality along with the risk, which is a disproportionate response when a vendor patch already exists; this option ignores the scenario's actual concern, which is patch compatibility, not whether the software itself should remain in the environment.
- ✓
Test the patch on a subset before full deployment
Why this is correct
Staging the patch to a small pilot group first, then monitoring for application crashes, driver conflicts, or performance regressions, directly addresses the stated compatibility concern while still moving toward full remediation; this follows standard change-management practice of validating a fix against the organization's real configuration baseline before it touches all 50 production endpoints.
- ✗
Apply a workaround from the vendor
Why it's wrong here
A vendor workaround, such as disabling a feature or applying a registry mitigation, is typically a temporary compensating control used when no patch exists yet or when patching must be delayed; here a patch has already been released, so relying on a workaround instead of eventually applying the fix leaves the underlying flaw unresolved and is not what the scenario is asking for.
- ✗
Deploy the patch to all workstations immediately
Why it's wrong here
Pushing the patch to all 50 workstations simultaneously ignores the IT team's explicitly stated compatibility concerns and could trigger a fleet-wide outage if the patch conflicts with installed applications or drivers, turning a manageable vulnerability into a large-scale availability incident that may be more disruptive than the original flaw.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Patch and Remediation Workflows
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
Vulnerability management
Vulnerability management is the continuous process of identifying, classifying, prioritizing, and remediating security weaknesses in an organization's IT environment.
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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.