CS0-003 Vulnerability Management Practice Question
Which vulnerability scanner is an open-source tool commonly used for network vulnerability scanning?
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
✓
OpenVAS
OpenVAS is a well-known open-source vulnerability scanner.
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 this is correct
OpenVAS, now maintained under the Greenbone Vulnerability Management project, is fully open-source and free to use, with a continuously updated feed of network vulnerability tests maintained by the community and Greenbone. It performs authenticated and unauthenticated network scans and is widely deployed by organizations that want scanning capability without commercial licensing costs.
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Qualys
Why it's wrong here
Qualys is a proprietary, subscription-based cloud platform for vulnerability management, where organizations pay per asset or per scan capacity, and the scanning engine and rule sets are closed source. It does not meet the open-source criterion the question asks about, regardless of its scanning capability.
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Nessus
Why it's wrong here
Nessus, developed by Tenable, was open-source in its early versions but has been a closed, commercially licensed product since 2005; the free Nessus Essentials tier is capped at a small number of IP addresses and is not the same as an open-source license. It is therefore not the correct answer to an open-source scanner question.
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Rapid7 InsightVM
Why it's wrong here
Rapid7 InsightVM is a commercial, cloud-connected vulnerability management platform sold under a paid license with proprietary scanning and analytics engines. Like Qualys, its scanning capability is not in question, but it fails the open-source requirement the prompt specifies, making it an incorrect choice here.
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Related to this question
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Web Application Vulnerability Scanning
Key term
OpenVAS
OpenVAS is an open-source vulnerability scanner that helps IT professionals identify security weaknesses in networks, systems, and applications.
Key term
Vulnerability scanner
A vulnerability scanner is an automated tool that identifies security weaknesses in systems, networks, and applications by comparing their configurations and software versions against known vulnerability databases.
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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.