PCNSE Securing Traffic and App-ID Practice Question
Exhibit
Refer to the exhibit. show system state | match appid total appid sessions: 12000 appid pending sessions: 4500 appid complete sessions: 7500 appid error sessions: 0
Refer to the exhibit. A network engineer notices high CPU utilization on the firewall. The output shows that 4500 sessions are pending App-ID identification. What is the most likely cause of the high number of pending sessions?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume a high number of pending App-ID sessions is caused by a lack of signatures or decryption, when in fact it is typically a symptom of rulebase inefficiency that forces excessive traffic through the App-ID engine.
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
✓
Security policy rules are not optimized, causing excessive traffic to be processed by App-ID.
When security policy rules are not optimized, excessive traffic may be processed by App-ID, causing a backlog of sessions waiting for application identification. The firewall's dataplane can become overwhelmed if too many sessions require deep packet inspection before a decision is made, leading to high CPU utilization and a large number of pending App-ID sessions.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
An application override policy is being used extensively.
Why it's wrong here
Application override bypasses App-ID, so it would not increase pending sessions.
- ✓
Security policy rules are not optimized, causing excessive traffic to be processed by App-ID.
Why this is correct
Poorly designed security policies can cause unnecessary traffic to be inspected, leading to a high number of pending sessions.
- ✗
SSL decryption is disabled for most traffic.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling decryption reduces the amount of traffic that App-ID needs to inspect, decreasing pending sessions.
- ✗
The application database is outdated and missing signatures.
Why it's wrong here
Missing signatures would likely cause error sessions, not pending sessions.
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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.