CS0-003 Vulnerability Management Practice Question
Which of the following tools is specifically designed for compliance scanning against security benchmarks such as CIS and STIG?
⚠ Common exam trap
CS0-004 often tests the difference between vulnerability scanners and compliance scanners; candidates may pick Nessus or OpenVAS due to familiarity, but OpenSCAP is the specialized tool for CIS/STIG.
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
✓
OpenSCAP
OpenSCAP is an open-source tool specifically designed for compliance scanning against security benchmarks like CIS and STIG. It uses SCAP (Security Content Automation Protocol) standards to automate vulnerability management and compliance checking. It can evaluate systems against predefined policies and generate reports.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
OpenVAS
Why it's wrong here
OpenVAS is a network-based vulnerability scanner that probes hosts for known CVEs and missing patches using plugin feeds, but it does not natively evaluate system configuration state against structured benchmark content like CIS or STIG XCCDF profiles.
- ✗
Nessus
Why it's wrong here
Nessus primarily performs vulnerability and patch-level scanning, though it can run compliance audit files as an add-on module; its core design and reputation center on identifying exploitable weaknesses rather than serving as the purpose-built engine for CIS/STIG benchmark auditing.
- ✓
OpenSCAP
Why this is correct
Correct. OpenSCAP is built specifically around SCAP standards, consuming XCCDF checklists and OVAL definitions to evaluate a system's actual configuration against CIS Benchmarks or DISA STIGs and producing pass/fail compliance results, which is its primary design purpose.
- ✗
Trivy
Why it's wrong here
Trivy scans container images, filesystems, and IaC templates for known vulnerabilities and misconfigurations in dependencies and Dockerfiles; it is a supply-chain and container security tool, not a general-purpose OS configuration compliance scanner for CIS or STIG baselines.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Security Posture Reporting and Dashboards
Key term
Security
Security in IT is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, damage, or theft.
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 and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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.