This XK0-005 practice question tests your understanding of security. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit.
# auditctl -l
LIST_RULES: syscall=openat,open,creat,truncate,ftruncate key=file_monitor
-a always,exclude -F msgtype=CRED_DISP
-w /etc/passwd -p wa -k passwd_changes
-w /etc/shadow -p wa -k shadow_changes
-w /etc/group -p wa -k group_changes
-w /var/log/auth.log -p wa -k auth_log
# ausearch -k auth_log -ts today
<no matches>
An administrator runs auditctl -l and ausearch -k auth_log -ts today as shown in the exhibit. The administrator expects to see audit events for /var/log/auth.log but gets no matches. Which TWO actions should the administrator take to resolve this issue?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Verify that auditd is running with 'systemctl status auditd'
Option B is correct because the audit daemon (auditd) must be running to process audit rules and generate events. If auditd is not active, rules loaded via auditctl will have no effect, and commands like ausearch will return no results. The administrator should verify the service status with 'systemctl status auditd' and start it if necessary.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Change '-p wa' to '-p rwxa' in the rule for /var/log/auth.log
Why it's wrong here
The rule already captures write and append; adding read might be unnecessary and not the cause.
✓
Verify that auditd is running with 'systemctl status auditd'
Why this is correct
If auditd is not running, no events are captured.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Add '-a always,exit -S all -F path=/var/log/auth.log' to capture all syscalls
Why it's wrong here
This would be redundant and not fix the issue of no matches.
✗
Run 'auditctl -R /etc/audit/rules.d/audit.rules' to reload rules
Why it's wrong here
Reloading rules is not necessarily needed if rules are already loaded.
✓
Change the key in the ausearch command to match the rule key exactly
Why this is correct
The key 'auth_log' is already correctly used; but if the rule was not loaded, ausearch would show no matches.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
CompTIA often tests the misconception that loading rules with auditctl is sufficient to generate audit events, without verifying that the auditd service is actually running to process and log those events.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
The audit subsystem in Linux relies on the auditd daemon to read rules from the kernel and buffer events; if auditd is stopped, the kernel still accepts rules via auditctl but events are discarded unless another consumer (like audisp) is configured. The ausearch command queries the audit log file (typically /var/log/audit/audit.log), which is only written by auditd when it is running. A common real-world scenario is that a system administrator loads rules but forgets to start or enable auditd, leading to silent failures where no events are recorded.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
Related glossary terms
Concepts from this question explained
These glossary pages explain the core terms tested in this XK0-005 question in full detail.
Security — This question tests Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Verify that auditd is running with 'systemctl status auditd' — Option B is correct because the audit daemon (auditd) must be running to process audit rules and generate events. If auditd is not active, rules loaded via auditctl will have no effect, and commands like ausearch will return no results. The administrator should verify the service status with 'systemctl status auditd' and start it if necessary.
What should I do if I get this XK0-005 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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