SPLK-1002 transaction command Practice Question
A security operations center (SOC) uses Splunk to correlate alerts from multiple sources. They have a rule that triggers a transaction when an IDS alert is followed within 5 minutes by a firewall deny event from the same source IP. The search is: `index=security sourcetype=ids OR sourcetype=firewall | transaction src_ip startswith="ids" endswith="firewall" maxspan=5m`. This works well when the deny event occurs after the alert. However, analysts are missing correlations where the firewall deny event occurs slightly before the IDS alert (up to 1 minute before). To capture these out-of-order events without significantly increasing resource usage, what should the analyst do?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is that increasing `maxspan` does not fix out-of-order events when using `startswith` and `endswith`; those conditions enforce chronological order.
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
✓
Use `transaction src_ip maxspan=6m` without startswith/endswith and then filter for events with both sourcetypes.
Using `transaction src_ip maxspan=6m` without `startswith` and `endswith` groups all events from the same source IP within 6 minutes. This captures the pair regardless of order (IDS alert before firewall or firewall before IDS). A subsequent filter for events with both sourcetypes isolates the desired pair. This approach does not significantly increase resource usage because the `maxspan` limits the time window. Option B fails because `transaction` still requires the `startswith` event to occur before the `endswith` event; if the firewall deny comes first, the IDS alert is not the start, so no transaction is created. Option A (`reverse`) has no effect as `transaction` internally sorts events by time. Option C (`sort` and `eventstats`) does not group events into transactions, making it unsuitable for correlation.
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 `reverse` before transaction to process events in reverse time order.
Why it's wrong here
Using `reverse` before `transaction` does not help because `transaction` internally sorts events by time; reversing the input order has no effect on grouping.
- ✗
Increase maxspan to 6 minutes and add `maxevents=2`.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing `maxspan` to 6 minutes and adding `maxevents=2` does not capture out-of-order events because `startswith` and `endswith` still require the start event (IDS alert) to be the earliest. If the firewall event occurs first, the IDS alert is not the start, so no transaction is created.
- ✗
Use `sort` with time dimension and then use `eventstats` to mark pairs.
Why it's wrong here
Using `sort` and `eventstats` does not create a transaction; `eventstats` produces statistics but does not group events into pairs for correlation.
- ✓
Use `transaction src_ip maxspan=6m` without startswith/endswith and then filter for events with both sourcetypes.
Why this is correct
Using `transaction src_ip maxspan=6m` without `startswith` and `endswith` groups all events from the same source IP within 6 minutes, regardless of order. This includes the IDS alert and firewall deny pair, which can then be isolated by filtering for both sourcetypes.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SPLK-1002 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Splunk 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 SPLK-1002 exam.