PCNSE Securing Traffic and App-ID Practice Question
An organization has two different applications (AppA and AppB) that both use TCP port 8080. The firewall must apply different security policies to each application. What is the recommended approach?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume App-ID can always distinguish applications on the same port, but in reality, when applications share the same port and protocol, an application override is required to enforce different policies based on IP addresses.
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
✓
Create an application override policy to identify each application by IP address.
When two applications share the same TCP port (8080), App-ID cannot differentiate them based on port alone. An application override policy allows you to explicitly identify each application by its source/destination IP address, overriding the default App-ID classification and enabling separate security policies for AppA and AppB.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use source/destination IP addresses in security policies instead of App-ID.
Why it's wrong here
Using only IPs is less granular and not a recommended practice.
- ✗
Add the applications on separate virtual wire interfaces.
Why it's wrong here
Virtual wires do not help with identification on the same port.
- ✗
Change the port of one application to a different value.
Why it's wrong here
May not be possible without modifying the application.
- ✓
Create an application override policy to identify each application by IP address.
Why this is correct
Application override matches based on user-defined criteria, allowing separate policies.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.