NSE7 Enterprise Firewall and VDOMs Practice Question
An administrator runs 'diagnose sys session list' and sees sessions with 'proto=6 proto_state=02' and a long duration. The administrator is troubleshooting why sessions are not being terminated after a policy change that should block the traffic. What does 'proto_state=02' indicate?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse the numeric 'proto_state' values with generic TCP states from RFC 793, but Fortinet uses its own mapping where '02' specifically means ESTABLISHED, not TIME_WAIT or FIN_WAIT, leading to incorrect assumptions about session termination behavior.
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 is in established state (TCP connection active)
In Fortinet's 'diagnose sys session list' output, 'proto=6' indicates TCP, and 'proto_state=02' maps to the TCP established state (ESTABLISHED). This means the session has completed the three-way handshake and is actively passing data. A long duration in this state explains why the session persists even after a policy change that should block new traffic—the existing session remains in the kernel session table until it times out or is explicitly cleared, because FortiGate's stateful inspection does not retroactively terminate established sessions upon policy modification.
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 in TIME_WAIT state
Why it's wrong here
TIME_WAIT is typically proto_state=05.
- ✗
The session is in SYN_SENT state, waiting for a SYN-ACK
Why it's wrong here
SYN_SENT is proto_state=01.
- ✓
The session is in established state (TCP connection active)
Why this is correct
proto_state=02 means ESTABLISHED. Existing sessions are not affected by policy changes; they continue until timeout or explicit termination.
- ✗
The session is in FIN_WAIT state, closing the connection
Why it's wrong here
FIN_WAIT states have higher numbers like 03 or 04.
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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.