NSE7 Enterprise Firewall and VDOMs Practice Question
An administrator runs the command 'diagnose sys session filter dport 443' on a FortiGate and sees the following output: proto=6 proto_state=01 duration=3600 expire=3599 What does this indicate about the session?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume `dport 443` and `expire=3599` mean an established HTTPS session, but the `proto_state=01` value explicitly indicates an incomplete handshake, not a fully established connection.
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 SYN_SENT state, meaning the three-way handshake is incomplete
The output shows `proto=6` (TCP), `proto_state=01`, `duration=3600`, and `expire=3599`. In FortiGate's session table, `proto_state=01` represents the TCP state `SYN_SENT`, which means the session has sent a SYN but has not yet received a SYN-ACK, so the three-way handshake is incomplete. The `expire=3599` indicates the session will time out in 3599 seconds if the handshake does not complete, but the session is not yet established.
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 SYN_SENT state, meaning the three-way handshake is incomplete
Why this is correct
State 01 indicates SYN_SENT; the session has not yet received a SYN-ACK.
- ✗
The session is fully established and will expire in about 3599 seconds
Why it's wrong here
State 01 is SYN_SENT, not established.
- ✗
The traffic is being blocked by the firewall policy
Why it's wrong here
The session exists, so it is not blocked; it is simply pending.
- ✗
The session is using HTTPS and has been inspected
Why it's wrong here
No indication of inspection; state is just SYN_SENT.
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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.