NSE7 Advanced Threat Protection Practice Question
A FortiGate admin runs 'diagnose sys session filter dport 443' and sees the following output: proto=6 proto_state=01 duration=3600 expire=3599 What does this indicate about the session?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is that candidates misinterpret 'duration' and 'expire' as being equal or assume a discrepancy indicates a problem, when in fact they represent different time metrics (elapsed vs. remaining) and are expected to differ for active sessions.
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
✓
The session has been active for 1 hour and will expire in about 1 hour
The output shows 'duration=3600' and 'expire=3599', meaning the session has been active for 3600 seconds (1 hour) and has approximately 3599 seconds remaining before it times out. The 'proto=6' indicates TCP (protocol 6), and 'proto_state=01' is the TCP state (typically ESTABLISHED). The session is healthy and will expire in about 1 hour, confirming C.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The session is a UDP session that has been idle for 1 hour
Why it's wrong here
proto=6 indicates TCP, not UDP.
- ✗
The session has a problem because duration and expire are not equal
Why it's wrong here
They are different; duration is elapsed time, expire is remaining time. This is normal.
- ✓
The session has been active for 1 hour and will expire in about 1 hour
Why this is correct
duration is the time since creation, expire is remaining lifetime.
- ✗
The session is a short-lived connection that started 3600 seconds ago
Why it's wrong here
3600 seconds is not short-lived; it's long-lived.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This NSE7 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Fortinet 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 NSE7 exam.