CS0-003 Vulnerability Management Practice Question
An organization uses OpenSCAP to perform compliance scanning against STIGs for DoD environments. A scan reveals that several systems are non-compliant with STIG ID: V-XXXXX requiring 'The system must disable the guest account.' The configuration drift detection tool shows that the guest account was re-enabled after a recent patch. What is the MOST effective course of action?
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
✓
Update the system baseline to enforce the guest account disabled state via Group Policy.
Configuration drift indicates that patches or changes are reverting settings. The most effective action is to update the baseline configuration management tool (e.g., Group Policy) to enforce the setting automatically.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Update the system baseline to enforce the guest account disabled state via Group Policy.
Why this is correct
Updating the Active Directory Group Policy Objects (GPOs) to enforce the disabled state of the guest account ensures centralized, automated remediation across all target systems. This approach establishes a permanent configuration baseline that actively prevents configuration drift, aligning the environment with the required STIG profile validated by OpenSCAP.
- ✗
Apply an exception to the STIG requirement for these systems.
Why it's wrong here
Requesting a formal policy exception bypasses the security control without mitigating the underlying vulnerability, leaving the guest account active and exposed. Exceptions should only be granted when there is a documented, unavoidable business or technical conflict, rather than as a shortcut to resolve a failed compliance scan.
- ✗
Re-run the OpenSCAP scan after the next patch cycle.
Why it's wrong here
Standard patch cycles focus on software updates and vulnerability remediation rather than enforcing specific local configuration settings like account status. Simply re-running the OpenSCAP scan without applying a configuration change will result in the same compliance failure, as patching does not automatically disable the guest account.
- ✗
Manually disable the guest account on each non-compliant system.
Why it's wrong here
Manually modifying the local security policy on individual machines is inefficient, prone to human error, and highly susceptible to configuration drift over time. Without centralized enforcement, subsequent system updates, local administrator actions, or script executions could easily re-enable the account, leading to future compliance failures.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Vulnerability Scanning Techniques
Key term
Detection
Detection is the process of identifying potential security incidents or anomalies by analyzing system data, logs, and network traffic.
Key term
General Data Protection Regulation
A European Union law that gives individuals control over their personal data and sets strict rules for how organizations collect, store, and process that data.
About these practice questions
This CS0-004 question is part of Courseiva's 701-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 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.