PCNSE Troubleshoot Practice Question
A SOC analyst reports that a critical security policy rule denying traffic from the 'Untrust' zone to the 'DMZ' zone is not generating any traffic logs, even though the analyst sees a high volume of denied traffic in other tools. The administrator confirms that the rule is correctly configured to deny and that logging is enabled at the rule level. What is the most likely reason for the missing logs?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that because a rule is configured to deny and log, it must be the rule that is matching the traffic, when in fact another rule or default rule could be denying the traffic without logging.
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 security policy rule is not being matched because the traffic is being denied by a different rule or a default rule with logging disabled.
The most likely reason is that the traffic is being denied by a different rule, such as a default rule or an earlier rule in the policy, which does not have logging enabled. The administrator should verify which rule is actually matching the traffic by checking the session browser or traffic logs. This is a common oversight when a specific deny rule does not seem to be logging, despite being configured to do so.
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 'Untrust' zone is not configured to log traffic, and zone-level logging overrides rule-level logging.
Why it's wrong here
Zone-level logging does not override rule-level logging for security policy rules. Logging is configured per rule. While there is a zone protection log setting, it is for zone protection events, not security policy. Therefore, this is not a valid reason for missing logs from a specific rule.
- ✓
The security policy rule is not being matched because the traffic is being denied by a different rule or a default rule with logging disabled.
Why this is correct
If the traffic is not matching the specific deny rule, it could be denied by an earlier rule or the default interzone/intrazone rule, which may not have logging enabled. The default rules often do not log by default. This would explain why the analyst sees denied traffic elsewhere but not from this rule. The administrator should check the session browser or traffic logs to see which rule is actually denying the traffic.
- ✗
The firewall's log storage is full, so new logs are being dropped.
Why it's wrong here
If log storage were full, the firewall would typically generate a system log indicating that logging is disabled or that logs are being dropped. Additionally, other rules are generating logs, so storage is likely not the issue. The problem is specific to this deny rule, which suggests a configuration or matching issue rather than a global logging failure.
- ✗
The firewall is in a high-availability active-passive pair, and logs are only generated on the active device.
Why it's wrong here
In an active-passive HA pair, logs are generated on the active device and synchronized to the passive device. If the administrator is checking logs on the passive device, they might not see real-time logs, but the active device would have them. However, the scenario does not mention HA, and the issue is specific to one rule, so HA is unlikely the cause.
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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 Palo Alto Networks exam blueprint
This PCNSE 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 PCNSE exam.