SSCP Network and Communications Security Practice Question
Which UDP port is used by the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) for receiving traps?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is mixing up the agent's polling port (UDP 161) with the manager's trap-receiving port (UDP 162); candidates often assume traps use the same port as requests.
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
✓
UDP 162
SNMP agents listen for requests on UDP port 161, but SNMP traps (and inform requests) are sent by the agent to the manager on UDP port 162. The manager must listen on UDP 162 to receive unsolicited notifications. This separation of ports lets the manager distinguish inbound trap traffic from its own outbound polling.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
UDP 161
Why it's wrong here
UDP 161 carries SNMP agent queries and responses, not traps. Traps are unsolicited notifications sent by agents to the manager on UDP 162. UDP 161 would be correct if the question asked which port receives SNMP polling requests.
- ✓
UDP 162
Why this is correct
SNMP traps are asynchronous notifications sent by agents to a manager, and they arrive on UDP port 162 rather than the polling port 161. This separation lets the manager listen for unsolicited alerts on 162 while still issuing requests to agents on 161, satisfying the stem's requirement for the trap-receiving port.
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UDP 123
Why it's wrong here
UDP 123 carries NTP time synchronisation, not SNMP trap delivery. SNMP traps arrive on UDP 162, with polling on 161. The port is tempting because both are low-numbered UDP services, but NTP's purpose is clock alignment, so it would only be correct if the question asked which port synchronises device time.
- ✗
UDP 514
Why it's wrong here
UDP 514 is the syslog port, carrying log messages to a collector, and has no role in SNMP trap delivery. SNMP traps arrive on UDP 162. UDP 514 would be correct if the question asked which port receives syslog event messages.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official ISC2 exam blueprint
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.