easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
CRISC Practice Question: During a risk assessment for a critical financial…
During a risk assessment for a critical financial application, the IT risk manager identifies a vulnerability in the application's authentication module. The exploit would require authenticated access. Which risk rating is most appropriate if the vulnerability has a CVSS base score of 9.0, but the application is behind a strong firewall and requires two-factor authentication?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often assume a high CVSS base score automatically dictates a High or Very High risk rating, ignoring the CRISC principle that risk must be evaluated after applying compensating controls and environmental modifiers.
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
✓
Medium, after considering the compensating controls
The CVSS base score of 9.0 reflects the intrinsic severity of the vulnerability, but the final risk rating must incorporate compensating controls. The strong firewall and two-factor authentication (2FA) significantly reduce the likelihood of exploitation, as the attacker would need to bypass both network-level filtering and an additional authentication factor. In CRISC methodology, risk is a function of likelihood and impact; here, the controls lower the likelihood, resulting in a Medium residual risk rating despite the high base score.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Medium, after considering the compensating controls
Why this is correct
Compensating controls reduce the likelihood of exploitation.
- ✗
Low, because the application requires authenticated access
Why it's wrong here
Authenticated access still allows malicious insiders.
- ✗
High, because CVSS base score is 9.0
Why it's wrong here
CVSS base score does not account for compensating controls.
- ✗
Very high, due to the criticality of the application
Why it's wrong here
Business criticality alone does not determine risk rating.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This CRISC question is part of Courseiva's 983-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CRISC practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA 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 CRISC exam.