This SSCP practice question tests your understanding of access controls. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A Windows workstation is unable to authenticate to a Kerberos-based application. The time on the workstation is 5 minutes ahead of the domain controller. What is the impact?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Authentication will fail because the time difference exceeds the default Kerberos clock skew limit
Kerberos authentication relies on timestamps to prevent replay attacks. The default maximum clock skew allowed between a client and a domain controller is 5 minutes (as defined in RFC 4120). Since the workstation is exactly 5 minutes ahead, it meets the threshold, but any additional delay or network latency can cause the timestamp to exceed the limit, resulting in authentication failure. Therefore, the user will be unable to authenticate.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
The user would be prompted for credentials but authentication would proceed
Why it's wrong here
If time skew is exceeded, the Ticket Granting Server will reject the request, preventing authentication altogether.
✓
Authentication will fail because the time difference exceeds the default Kerberos clock skew limit
Why this is correct
Kerberos allows a maximum skew of 5 minutes by default; a 5-minute difference may cause rejection or succeed only if within tolerance.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Only NTLM authentication would be affected
Why it's wrong here
NTLM is not time-sensitive; Kerberos is the protocol that requires time synchronization.
✗
No impact; Kerberos can tolerate up to 10 minutes of skew
Why it's wrong here
The default maximum skew in Windows is 5 minutes, not 10; a 5-minute difference may be at the limit.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume the default clock skew is 10 minutes (as in some older implementations) or that a 5-minute difference is acceptable, but the SSCP exam expects you to know the exact default value of 5 minutes and that reaching that limit causes authentication to fail.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Kerberos uses the Authenticator timestamp to verify that a ticket request is recent. The KDC compares the client's timestamp to its own clock; if the difference exceeds the configured skew (default 5 minutes in Windows, configurable via the 'Maximum tolerance for computer clock synchronization' Group Policy), the server rejects the request with a KRB_AP_ERR_SKEW error. In practice, even a 5-minute skew can cause intermittent failures if network latency or processing delays push the effective difference over the limit. Administrators can adjust this value in the registry under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Kdc\DefaultClockSkew.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A security analyst at a medium-sized enterprise encounters this scenario during an investigation or architecture review. The correct answer reflects best practice for the specific threat or control described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Security exam questions test whether you can match controls to threats in context — not just recall definitions.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Access Controls — This question tests Access Controls — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Authentication will fail because the time difference exceeds the default Kerberos clock skew limit — Kerberos authentication relies on timestamps to prevent replay attacks. The default maximum clock skew allowed between a client and a domain controller is 5 minutes (as defined in RFC 4120). Since the workstation is exactly 5 minutes ahead, it meets the threshold, but any additional delay or network latency can cause the timestamp to exceed the limit, resulting in authentication failure. Therefore, the user will be unable to authenticate.
What should I do if I get this SSCP question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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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.
Question Discussion
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