PCNSE Practice Question: Securing Users and Applications with Authentication
Exhibit
admin@PA-5050> show authentication rule id=1, rule=>, from z1, to z2, application ssl, user any, action authentication, profile AuthProfile, seq=1 id=2, rule=>, from z1, to z2, application ping, user any, action allow admin@PA-5050> show running security-policy rule 1: from z1 to z2, application ssl, action allow
Refer to the exhibit. A network administrator is troubleshooting why users are not being prompted for authentication when accessing HTTPS sites. The authentication rule and security policy are shown. 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 authentication rule is placed after the security policy that allows the traffic.
The authentication rule is evaluated after the security policy in the rulebase (unless placed in a pre-rulebase). Since the security policy allows the HTTPS traffic without requiring authentication, users are not prompted. For authentication to be enforced, the authentication rule must be placed before the security policy or in a pre-rulebase, which corresponds to option A.
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 authentication rule is placed after the security policy that allows the traffic.
Why this is correct
The authentication rule (id=1) is listed after the security rule, but the order in the output does not reflect rulebase order. However, the typical issue is that the security rule allows traffic before the authentication rule is evaluated.
- ✗
The application 'ssl' is not correctly identified.
Why it's wrong here
The application is standard and should be identified correctly.
- ✗
The authentication rule is placed before the security policy in the rulebase.
Why it's wrong here
If it were before, authentication should trigger; but the exhibit shows the security policy rules, not the rulebase order.
- ✗
The authentication profile 'AuthProfile' is not configured.
Why it's wrong here
If the profile were missing, the authentication rule would not be committed or would log an error.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every PCNSE question from scratch — 504 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.