PCNSE Practice Question: Securing Users and Applications with Authentication
Exhibit
authentication-policy {
rules {
"require-auth" {
match {
source-user "unknown"
destination-address "192.168.1.0/24"
}
action allow-authentication
authentication-profile "SAML-Auth"
}
}
}Refer to the exhibit. What happens when a user with an unknown identity (source-user unknown) tries to access resources in 192.168.1.0/24?
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 user is prompted to authenticate via the configured authentication profile.
When a user with an unknown identity (source-user unknown) attempts to access resources in 192.168.1.0/24 and the policy rule action is 'allow-authentication', the firewall prompts the user to authenticate via the configured authentication profile. Option A is incorrect because the action is not 'deny', so traffic is not blocked solely due to unknown source-user. Option B is incorrect because the traffic is not allowed without authentication; the 'allow-authentication' action requires successful authentication. Option D is incorrect because the action is specifically 'allow-authentication' which triggers an authentication prompt using the configured method (which may be captive portal, but the term 'redirect to captive portal' is less precise than 'prompted to authenticate').
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 traffic is blocked because the source-user is 'unknown'.
Why it's wrong here
The policy action is 'allow-authentication', not 'deny'.
- ✗
The traffic is allowed without authentication because the source-user is 'unknown'.
Why it's wrong here
The policy matches unknown users and enforces authentication; traffic is not allowed until authentication succeeds.
- ✓
The user is prompted to authenticate via the configured authentication profile.
Why this is correct
The 'allow-authentication' action initiates an authentication challenge for the user.
- ✗
The user is redirected to the captive portal.
Why it's wrong here
The authentication profile may use SAML, not captive portal.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This PCNSE question is part of Courseiva's 504-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam 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.