Cybersecurity-Practitioner Network Security Practice Question
An administrator configures high availability (HA) active/passive mode between two Palo Alto Networks firewalls. During a failover test, the administrator observes that stateful sessions are dropped, forcing users to re-authenticate and re-establish their TCP connections. What is the most likely configuration error?
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
✓
HA Session Synchronization is disabled in the HA configuration settings.
For stateful failover to work seamlessly without dropping sessions, HA Session Synchronization must be enabled under Device > High Availability > General > Election Settings / Session Synchronization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
HA Session Synchronization is disabled in the HA configuration settings.
Why this is correct
Without session synchronization, the passive firewall does not possess state table entries for active sessions upon failover.
- ✗
The HA1 backup cable is disconnected, preventing configuration sync.
Why it's wrong here
HA1 backup syncs configuration, but session synchronization occurs over HA2.
- ✗
The interface management IP addresses on both firewalls are identical.
Why it's wrong here
Identical management IPs would cause severe IP conflict, preventing basic network operations entirely.
- ✗
Preemption is enabled on both peer firewalls with identical priorities.
Why it's wrong here
Identical priorities with preemption cause split-brain or flapping, but session sync is the direct cause of dropped session states.
Visual reference
About these practice questions
One of 206 original Cybersecurity-Practitioner practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official Palo Alto Networks exam blueprint
This Cybersecurity-Practitioner practice question is part of Courseiva's free Palo Alto Networks 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 Cybersecurity-Practitioner exam.