- A
Accept the risk and wait for the next scheduled scan cycle.
Why wrong: Waiting does not reduce exposure, and the appliance remains directly reachable from the internet.
- B
Apply compensating controls such as strict access filtering, MFA, enhanced logging, and alerting.
When a patch is unavailable, the best short-term treatment is to reduce exposure and add monitoring. Tight access control, MFA, and logging do not remove the vulnerability, but they can meaningfully lower the likelihood of exploitation and improve detection. This is the correct operational response when the service must remain online and a permanent fix is not yet available.
- C
Disable all logging so the appliance performs better under load.
Why wrong: Removing logs makes detection and investigation harder and offers no real security benefit.
- D
Ignore the issue until the vendor confirms the vulnerability is being actively exploited.
Why wrong: Active exploitation is not required before mitigation; critical internet-facing issues should be addressed sooner.
SY0-701 Security Operations Practice Question
This SY0-701 practice question tests your understanding of security operations. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
A monthly scan finds a critical remote-code-execution vulnerability on an internet-facing VPN appliance. The vendor has not released a patch for six weeks, but the service must stay online. Which short-term action is the best risk treatment?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"best"Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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
Apply compensating controls such as strict access filtering, MFA, enhanced logging, and alerting.
Option B is correct because when a patch is unavailable for a critical vulnerability, compensating controls reduce risk without taking the service offline. For an internet-facing VPN appliance, strict access filtering (e.g., limiting source IPs via ACLs), enforcing MFA, and enabling enhanced logging/alerting can mitigate exploitation attempts while maintaining availability. This aligns with the risk treatment strategy of risk reduction through controls rather than acceptance, avoidance, or transfer.
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.
- ✗
Accept the risk and wait for the next scheduled scan cycle.
Why it's wrong here
Waiting does not reduce exposure, and the appliance remains directly reachable from the internet.
- ✓
Apply compensating controls such as strict access filtering, MFA, enhanced logging, and alerting.
Why this is correct
When a patch is unavailable, the best short-term treatment is to reduce exposure and add monitoring. Tight access control, MFA, and logging do not remove the vulnerability, but they can meaningfully lower the likelihood of exploitation and improve detection. This is the correct operational response when the service must remain online and a permanent fix is not yet available.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Disable all logging so the appliance performs better under load.
Why it's wrong here
Removing logs makes detection and investigation harder and offers no real security benefit.
- ✗
Ignore the issue until the vendor confirms the vulnerability is being actively exploited.
Why it's wrong here
Active exploitation is not required before mitigation; critical internet-facing issues should be addressed sooner.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think accepting risk (Option A) is acceptable for a critical vulnerability, but CompTIA expects you to recognize that compensating controls are the appropriate short-term treatment when a patch is unavailable and the service must remain online.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Compensating controls for a VPN appliance might include implementing network-based intrusion prevention system (IPS) rules to block known exploit patterns, restricting administrative access to trusted IP ranges, and enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) to prevent unauthorized access even if the RCE is triggered. Enhanced logging (e.g., syslog with verbose VPN session details) and alerting (e.g., SIEM correlation rules for anomalous traffic) provide early warning of exploitation attempts. In a real-world scenario, such as the CVE-2023-46805 vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, organizations used ACLs and MFA as compensating controls while awaiting patches.
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 security team runs a vulnerability scan on a web application and discovers an unpatched SQL injection flaw. The team prioritises remediation by CVSS score — critical flaws are patched within 24 hours, high within 7 days. Questions like this test whether you understand vulnerability management processes, scanning tools, and remediation prioritisation.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SY0-701 question test?
Security Operations — This question tests Security Operations — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Apply compensating controls such as strict access filtering, MFA, enhanced logging, and alerting. — Option B is correct because when a patch is unavailable for a critical vulnerability, compensating controls reduce risk without taking the service offline. For an internet-facing VPN appliance, strict access filtering (e.g., limiting source IPs via ACLs), enforcing MFA, and enabling enhanced logging/alerting can mitigate exploitation attempts while maintaining availability. This aligns with the risk treatment strategy of risk reduction through controls rather than acceptance, avoidance, or transfer.
What should I do if I get this SY0-701 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This SY0-701 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 SY0-701 exam.
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