SSCP Risk Identification, Monitoring, and Analysis Practice Question
A vulnerability scanner reports a medium-severity finding on a server. After investigation, the security team determines that the vulnerability is not exploitable due to existing compensating controls. How should this finding be classified in the vulnerability management process?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse a non-exploitable vulnerability with a true positive, failing to recognize that the classification depends on actual exploitability in the current environment, not just the presence of a potential weakness.
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
✓
False positive
A false positive occurs when a vulnerability scanner reports a finding that, upon investigation, is determined not to be a real security risk. In this case, the vulnerability is not exploitable due to compensating controls, meaning the scanner's alert was incorrect in the context of the actual environment. Therefore, the finding should be classified as a false positive, not a true vulnerability.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
True positive
Why it's wrong here
True positive means the vulnerability is real and exploitable.
- ✗
Risk acceptance
Why it's wrong here
Risk acceptance is a decision, not a classification of a finding.
- ✓
False positive
Why this is correct
False positive indicates the scanner incorrectly identified a vulnerability.
- ✗
False negative
Why it's wrong here
False negative means a real vulnerability was missed.
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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.