hardMultiple Choice
PK0-005 Practice Question: During the execution phase, a project manager…
During the execution phase, a project manager discovers that the development team has been using an unauthorized software library to accelerate work. The library has a license that could create legal risks for the company. What is the best course of action?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates think escalating to the sponsor or simply logging the risk is sufficient, but the PM must take immediate corrective action to stop the violation before seeking guidance or documenting the issue.
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
✓
Immediately stop using the library, assess the impact on the schedule, and develop a plan to replace it.
Using an unauthorized software library with a license that creates legal risks must be stopped immediately to protect the company from potential litigation. The project manager must then assess the schedule impact and develop a replacement plan, as continuing use without addressing the legal risk violates compliance and project governance standards.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Document the issue in the lessons learned and continue with the library to avoid delay.
Why it's wrong here
Documenting and continuing leaves an active legal exposure unresolved; lessons learned capture history, not live licensing risk. It tempts because lessons learned genuinely serve future projects, and that would be right for a closed, non-legal process improvement — not an unresolved licence breach requiring removal or legal review.
- ✓
Immediately stop using the library, assess the impact on the schedule, and develop a plan to replace it.
Why this is correct
The licence poses legal exposure, so use must cease at once. Assessing schedule impact and planning a compliant replacement addresses both the risk and the delivery commitment, rather than continuing unauthorised use or deferring the decision.
- ✗
Continue using the library but add a note in the risk register about potential licensing issues.
Why it's wrong here
Logging the risk while continuing still ships the infringing library, so the legal exposure persists rather than being eliminated. Risk registers are for tracking uncertainties, and that would be correct for a low-probability issue with no immediate contractual breach — not a known licence violation already in use.
- ✗
Escalate the issue to the project sponsor and request a decision on whether to continue using the library.
Why it's wrong here
Escalating defers the decision to the sponsor, but the project manager owns execution-phase issue resolution and must act on a known licence violation. Escalation suits issues exceeding the manager's authority or budget, such as contract termination — not a technical compliance fix within their remit.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This PK0-005 question is part of Courseiva's 954-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 PK0-005 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 PK0-005 exam.