PCNE Implementing VPC Instances Practice Question
A network engineer configured a hierarchical firewall policy at the organization level with a priority 100 rule that denies all ingress traffic. At the folder level, a policy with priority 110 allows ingress from a specific IP range. At the VPC level, a network firewall policy with priority 90 allows ingress from a different IP range. Which traffic will be allowed?
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
✓
Only traffic matching the VPC-level allow rule
Hierarchical firewall policies are evaluated in order of priority (lower number = higher priority) and then network firewall policies. The org-level rule with priority 100 denies all ingress. The folder-level rule with priority 110 allows specific IPs, but since the org rule has higher priority, it overrides the folder rule. The VPC-level network firewall policy is evaluated after hierarchical policies and has priority 90, which is lower than 100, so it would override the org rule. However, hierarchical policies are evaluated before network firewall policies only if they have higher priority. Here, the VPC policy has priority 90, which is lower than 100, so it takes precedence over the org-level deny. Thus, traffic matching the VPC policy's allowed IP range is allowed.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Traffic matching either the folder-level or VPC-level allow rules
Why it's wrong here
The folder-level allow is overridden by the org-level deny; only the VPC-level allow is effective.
- ✗
Only traffic matching the folder-level allow rule
Why it's wrong here
The org-level deny has higher priority (100) than the folder allow (110), so folder allow is overridden.
- ✓
Only traffic matching the VPC-level allow rule
Why this is correct
The VPC-level policy has priority 90, which is lower than the org-level deny (100), so it overrides the deny and allows matching traffic.
- ✗
No traffic is allowed because the org-level deny is evaluated last
Why it's wrong here
Hierarchical policies are evaluated in priority order, and the VPC policy is evaluated after hierarchical policies but with lower priority number, so it overrides.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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