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CCSP Practice Question: A cloud service provider (CSP) offers a shared…
A cloud service provider (CSP) offers a shared responsibility model. According to this model, who is responsible for patching the hypervisor?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the misconception that customers are responsible for all software patching, but the trap here is that the hypervisor is part of the CSP's infrastructure layer, not the customer's virtual environment.
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 cloud service provider.
In a cloud shared responsibility model, the hypervisor is part of the underlying infrastructure that the cloud service provider (CSP) manages. The CSP is responsible for patching the hypervisor because it controls the virtualization layer that separates tenant workloads. Customers are responsible only for securing their guest operating systems and applications, not the hypervisor itself.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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The customer.
Why it's wrong here
The customer patches only what it controls, such as guest operating systems, middleware and applications, never the hypervisor beneath. Customers are tempting because they patch their own instances, but the hypervisor sits below the tenant boundary and stays with the CSP.
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The regulatory authority.
Why it's wrong here
A regulatory authority writes and enforces rules; it performs no operational patching of provider infrastructure. Regulators are tempting because they set security obligations, but responsibility for maintaining the hypervisor itself belongs to the party that owns and operates the underlying hosts, namely the CSP.
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The cloud service provider.
Why this is correct
In the shared responsibility model, the CSP owns the virtualisation layer, so patching the hypervisor sits with the provider. Customers remain responsible for their own guest operating systems, applications and data, not the underlying hypervisor.
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A third-party auditor.
Why it's wrong here
An auditor provides independent assurance over controls; it does not operate the virtualisation layer. Auditors are engaged to assess compliance, so they appear in governance discussions, yet hypervisor patching remains with whoever manages the physical hosts and hypervisor, which in a shared model is the CSP.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CCSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CCSP exam.