PCNSA Policy Evaluation and Management Practice Question
A security administrator notices that a newly added security rule, designed to allow SSH traffic from the engineering department to a Linux server, is not being matched. The rule is placed above an existing 'deny all' rule. What is the most likely cause?
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 rule's source zone or address does not match the engineering department traffic.
If the zone or source address is misconfigured, the traffic will not match the intended rule and will be matched by later rules. Option A is wrong because rule ordering is correct (rule above deny all). Option C is wrong because hit count is irrelevant to the cause of no match. Option D is wrong because the rule is placed in the correct position.
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 rule is placed below the deny all rule.
Why it's wrong here
The rule is placed above the deny all rule, so order is fine.
- ✓
The rule's source zone or address does not match the engineering department traffic.
Why this is correct
Misconfigured source zones or addresses prevent the rule from matching the intended traffic.
- ✗
The rule has a low hit count.
Why it's wrong here
Hit count indicates usage, not why the rule does not match.
- ✗
The rule is placed after the deny all rule.
Why it's wrong here
The rule is placed before the deny all rule.
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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.