CCSP Cloud Application Security Practice Question
An organization uses a CI/CD pipeline that automatically builds and deploys container images to a Kubernetes cluster. A security scanner flags that the base image contains a critical vulnerability. What is the best course of action to prevent vulnerable images from being deployed?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates think replacing the base image with a minimal one (Option A) is sufficient, but ISC2 often tests that security must be automated and enforced as a gate in the pipeline, not just a manual or reactive measure.
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
✓
Integrate a container image scanning tool into the CI/CD pipeline that blocks builds if critical vulnerabilities are found.
Integrating a container image scanning tool directly into the CI/CD pipeline and configuring it to block the build when critical vulnerabilities are found ensures that vulnerable images never reach the Kubernetes cluster. This shift-left approach enforces security gates automatically, preventing deployment of non-compliant images without relying on manual intervention or post-deployment alerts.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Replace the base image with a minimal image like Alpine.
Why it's wrong here
Swapping to Alpine changes the base OS but does nothing to stop the flagged vulnerable image already in the pipeline from deploying; it also risks breaking dependencies. Minimal images reduce attack surface generally, yet the stem demands enforcement preventing vulnerable images reaching the cluster, which only a blocking pipeline gate achieves.
- ✗
Manually review and patch the base image before each build.
Why it's wrong here
Manual patching cannot scale across automated builds and leaves the pipeline able to deploy images before review completes. Human review suits one-off image hardening or legacy workloads without CI/CD, but the stem requires automated prevention, which a scanning gate that fails the build provides.
- ✓
Integrate a container image scanning tool into the CI/CD pipeline that blocks builds if critical vulnerabilities are found.
Why this is correct
Embedding scanning directly in the pipeline enforces a fail-closed gate: the build job inspects the image layers and aborts before the artefact reaches the cluster, satisfying the requirement to prevent vulnerable images from being deployed rather than merely detecting them post-deployment.
- ✗
Configure the scanner to send alerts after deployment.
Why it's wrong here
Post-deployment alerts detect the vulnerability only after the image runs in the cluster, so prevention has already failed. Alerting suits monitoring drift or runtime threat detection, but the stem asks to stop vulnerable images being deployed, which requires a pre-deployment gate that blocks the build.
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JA
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.