NSE7 Advanced VPN and Zero Trust Practice Question
A healthcare provider is deploying ZTNA to secure access to an internal electronic health records (EHR) system. The EHR system is composed of multiple web services running on different ports behind a load balancer with IP 10.0.10.100. The load balancer listens on ports 443, 8443, and 9090. The administrator configures a single ZTNA rule with proxy destination 10.0.10.100:443, expecting that the other ports will be accessed via the same rule. However, users report that they can only access the service on port 443; connections to ports 8443 and 9090 fail. The FortiGate logs show that requests to other ports are being dropped. What should the administrator do to resolve this?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume a single ZTNA rule with a destination IP will automatically forward traffic to all ports on that IP, overlooking that ZTNA rules are port-specific and require separate rules for each service port.
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
✓
Create separate ZTNA rules for each port (8443 and 9090).
Each ZTNA rule maps to a single proxy destination port. The rule configured with proxy destination 10.0.10.100:443 only forwards traffic for that specific port. To access services on ports 8443 and 9090, separate ZTNA rules must be created for each port, each with its own proxy destination and access proxy configuration.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure the load balancer to redirect all traffic to port 443.
Why it's wrong here
ZTNA proxy rules match a single destination port, so 10.0.10.100:443 never matches traffic to 8443 or 9090, which the FortiGate then drops. Redirecting the load balancer to 443 alters the EHR service itself rather than the rule; adding separate rules per port is what the scenario requires.
- ✗
Configure the ZTNA gateway to allow all ports to the load balancer.
Why it's wrong here
A ZTNA proxy rule is port-specific, so permitting all ports at the gateway does not make the 10.0.10.100:443 rule match 8443 or 9090 traffic. Allowing all ports suits a broad access policy, but here the requirement is separate destination entries for each service port.
- ✓
Create separate ZTNA rules for each port (8443 and 9090).
Why this is correct
A ZTNA proxy destination matches the exact IP-and-port pair, so 10.0.10.100:443 covers only port 443. Traffic to 8443 and 9090 matches no rule and is dropped. Separate rules, or a destination covering all three ports, are required.
- ✗
Ask users to change the port in their browser to 443.
Why it's wrong here
Changing the browser port does not address the rule mismatch; the ZTNA proxy destination is bound to port 443 only. FortiGate matches the configured destination port, so traffic to 8443 and 9090 is dropped. Separate rules, or a destination covering all three ports, are required.
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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.