SSCP Risk Identification, Monitoring, and Analysis Practice Question
A company's vulnerability scanner reports a critical vulnerability in a third-party library. The remediation SLA for critical vulnerabilities is 48 hours. However, the patch is not yet available from the vendor. Which of the following is the most appropriate immediate action?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume 'no patch available' means 'no action required' (Option C), but the SSCP exam expects proactive risk mitigation through compensating controls even when patching is delayed.
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
✓
Implement compensating controls to mitigate the vulnerability
When a patch is unavailable, implementing compensating controls (e.g., network segmentation, WAF rules, disabling unused features) is the immediate action to reduce risk exposure while awaiting an official fix. This aligns with the NIST SP 800-40 risk mitigation framework, which prioritizes compensating controls when patching is not feasible. Simply removing the software (A) may break business operations, extending the SLA (B) violates policy, and accepting risk (C) ignores the need for active mitigation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Remove the vulnerable software immediately
Why it's wrong here
Removing the software outright may break dependent business services, exceeding what the scenario requires. Full removal suits end-of-life or unsupported components with no vendor path; here the vendor is actively producing a patch, so interim mitigation preserves functionality until it ships.
- ✗
Extend the SLA to 30 days
Why it's wrong here
Extending the SLA to 30 days abandons the mandated 48-hour critical remediation window without addressing the exposure. SLA extension suits low-severity findings or formally approved exceptions, not an active critical vulnerability where interim containment can reduce risk immediately.
- ✗
Accept the risk because the vendor has not released a patch
Why it's wrong here
Acceptance leaves the critical exposure unmitigated for the full 48-hour SLA window, breaching the remediation requirement. Acceptance is valid only after documented risk sign-off when no compensating control exists; here, interim measures such as virtual patching or isolating the affected component remain available.
- ✓
Implement compensating controls to mitigate the vulnerability
Why this is correct
With no vendor patch available, compensating controls such as virtual patching, network segmentation or tightened access restrictions reduce exposure while the SLA clock runs. This satisfies the stem's immediate-action requirement without breaching the 48-hour critical remediation SLA.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SSCP 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 SSCP exam.