PCNSA Decryption and Monitoring Practice Question
A company uses SSL Forward Proxy decryption. After implementing, they notice that some internal applications that use client certificate authentication are failing. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Palo Alto Networks often tests the misconception that enabling decryption alone handles all TLS features, when in fact client certificate forwarding requires an explicit configuration step that many candidates overlook.
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
✓
The firewall is not configured to forward client certificates
SSL Forward Proxy decryption intercepts and re-encrypts traffic, which strips the original client certificate from the TLS handshake. For internal applications that require client certificate authentication, the firewall must be explicitly configured to forward the client certificate to the destination server. Without this forwarding, the server never receives the certificate, causing authentication failures.
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 SSL/TLS service profile does not allow self-signed certificates
Why it's wrong here
This affects server certificates, not client certificates.
- ✓
The firewall is not configured to forward client certificates
Why this is correct
Client certificate forwarding is required for applications that authenticate with client certificates.
- ✗
The decryption profile's 'Block Unsupported Modes' is enabled
Why it's wrong here
This setting blocks unsupported cipher suites, not client certificate authentication.
- ✗
The decryption policy is set to 'decrypt' but not 'proxy'
Why it's wrong here
There is no 'proxy' action in decryption policies; 'decrypt' is the correct action for forward proxy.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCNSA practice question is part of Courseiva's free Palo Alto Networks 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 PCNSA exam.