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Question 81.

A development team is implementing password-reset functionality. Which design is MOST secure?

1. Use predictable reset links based on the username
2. Use short-lived, single-use, cryptographically random reset tokens
3. Allow reset links to remain valid indefinitely
4. Display the user’s current password after identity verification

Correct Answer: 2. Use short-lived, single-use, cryptographically random reset tokens

Explanation:

Password-reset tokens should be unpredictable, expire quickly, and become invalid after successful use. These properties reduce the chance that an attacker can guess, reuse, or steal a reset token. The reset process should also avoid revealing sensitive account information and should generate appropriate security logs. Recovery mechanisms must receive strong protection because they can otherwise become an easier path around normal authentication.

Question 82.

Which practice BEST reduces the likelihood of race-condition vulnerabilities in security-sensitive code?

1. Design operations to be atomic where required and synchronize access to shared resources
2. Increase the number of concurrent threads
3. Disable error handling
4. Store all state in client-side variables

Correct Answer: 1. Design operations to be atomic where required and synchronize access to shared resources

Explanation:

Race conditions occur when program behavior depends on timing between concurrent operations. In security-sensitive workflows, attackers may exploit these timing windows to bypass validation, alter resources, or perform duplicate transactions. Atomic operations, locking, synchronization, transactional mechanisms, and careful state management can reduce the risk. Developers should identify shared resources and consider concurrency explicitly during design and testing.

Question 83.

A team wants to identify insecure trust assumptions before implementation. Which activity is MOST appropriate?

1. Performance testing
2. User acceptance testing
3. Threat modeling
4. Capacity forecasting

Correct Answer: 3. Threat modeling

Explanation:

Threat modeling examines assets, trust boundaries, data flows, potential attackers, and misuse scenarios before implementation. It helps teams identify insecure assumptions, such as trusting internal networks or client-controlled values. The results can drive security requirements and design changes while they are still relatively inexpensive to implement. Threat modeling complements later security testing rather than replacing it.

Question 84.

A security-sensitive service encounters an invalid or unexpected state. Which behavior is generally safest?

1. Continue processing with administrator privileges
2. Ignore the condition
3. Return confidential diagnostic information to the user
4. Fail in a controlled and secure state

Correct Answer: 4. Fail in a controlled and secure state

Explanation:

Unexpected states should not result in bypassed authentication, authorization, or integrity controls. Secure failure means the application preserves protection even when processing cannot continue normally. Error handling should provide appropriate user feedback while recording useful diagnostic information in protected logs. The exact behavior depends on business requirements, but security-sensitive operations should not default to permissive behavior.

Question 85.

What is the PRIMARY value of defining secure coding standards for a development organization?

1. They provide consistent guidance for avoiding common implementation weaknesses
2. They eliminate the need for testing
3. They guarantee all code is secure
4. They replace architecture reviews

Correct Answer: 1. They provide consistent guidance for avoiding common implementation weaknesses

Explanation:

Secure coding standards give developers repeatable guidance on topics such as input handling, authentication, authorization, cryptography, error management, logging, and memory safety. They help reduce inconsistency across teams and support code-review and training activities. Standards are not sufficient by themselves; they should be reinforced through tooling, review, testing, and secure software governance.

Question 86.

A web application must accept a redirect destination after login. Which implementation BEST reduces open-redirect risk?

1. Accept any absolute URL supplied by the user
2. Restrict redirects to approved local destinations or an allowlist
3. Disable TLS for redirects
4. Store redirect targets permanently in browser history

Correct Answer: 2. Restrict redirects to approved local destinations or an allowlist

Explanation:

Open redirects allow attackers to craft trusted-looking application links that send users to malicious websites. Redirect destinations should be constrained to approved local paths or validated against a strict allowlist. Arbitrary user-supplied URLs should not be trusted. This control helps reduce phishing and abuse of the application’s trusted domain while preserving legitimate post-login navigation.

Question 87.

A software team wants to discover vulnerabilities caused by unsafe interactions among multiple running components. Which test type is MOST useful?

1. Static analysis only
2. Source-code formatting review
3. Dynamic and integration-focused security testing
4. License compliance review

Correct Answer: 3. Dynamic and integration-focused security testing

Explanation:

Some vulnerabilities appear only when components interact at runtime. Dynamic and integration security testing can reveal weaknesses in authentication flows, session handling, API boundaries, configuration, data exchange, and runtime state. Static analysis is valuable but may not fully expose problems that depend on deployment or interaction between services. A mature program combines multiple complementary testing techniques.

Question 88.

A development organization permits anyone with repository access to approve and merge their own security-critical code changes. Which control is MOST appropriate?

1. Disable source-control logging
2. Give all developers production access
3. Remove branch protections
4. Require independent review or approval for sensitive changes

Correct Answer: 4. Require independent review or approval for sensitive changes

Explanation:

Independent review supports separation of duties and reduces the chance that one person can introduce a harmful or insecure change without oversight. Branch protections, peer review, automated testing, and controlled merge permissions can enforce this process. The strength of approval requirements should reflect the sensitivity of the code and business risk. Audit trails should record who authored, reviewed, and approved changes.

Question 89.

Which practice BEST reduces the risk of sensitive data exposure in application telemetry?

1. Define and enforce rules for redacting or excluding unnecessary sensitive fields
2. Send complete authentication tokens to every monitoring system
3. Disable access controls on telemetry platforms
4. Retain every diagnostic record indefinitely

Correct Answer: 1. Define and enforce rules for redacting or excluding unnecessary sensitive fields

Explanation:

Telemetry can unintentionally collect credentials, identifiers, payment data, or other sensitive information. Teams should define which fields may be logged, apply masking or redaction, limit retention, and protect access to monitoring systems. This preserves operational visibility while reducing privacy and breach exposure. Security monitoring does not require indiscriminate collection of every application value.

Question 90.

A software product uses encryption to protect customer records. What should determine the cryptographic algorithm and key size?

1. Developer preference alone
2. Approved organizational standards, risk, regulatory requirements, and current cryptographic guidance
3. The shortest implementation available
4. Whether the algorithm has a memorable name

Correct Answer: 2. Approved organizational standards, risk, regulatory requirements, and current cryptographic guidance

Explanation:

Cryptographic choices should follow approved standards and be appropriate for the sensitivity and expected lifetime of the protected information. Regulatory requirements and organizational policy may also constrain acceptable algorithms and key sizes. Teams should avoid obsolete or proprietary cryptography and should plan for future algorithm changes when long-lived data or systems are involved.

Question 91.

A security tester can alter a transaction amount in a client-side request after the application calculates it. What is the MAIN weakness?

1. Insufficient logging
2. Weak transport availability
3. The server trusts security-sensitive client-controlled data
4. Excessive password length

Correct Answer: 3. The server trusts security-sensitive client-controlled data

Explanation:

Values that affect price, privileges, authorization, or transaction integrity should not be trusted simply because they were generated by the client interface. Attackers can modify requests directly. The server should independently calculate or validate security-sensitive values using trusted data and enforce authorization before processing. Client-side validation can improve usability but should never be the only integrity control.

Question 92.

A software team wants to ensure that production binaries correspond exactly to reviewed source code. Which approach is BEST?

1. Allow manual compilation on developer laptops
2. Rename binaries after build
3. Email binaries to production administrators
4. Use a controlled, reproducible build process with artifact integrity and provenance controls

Correct Answer: 4. Use a controlled, reproducible build process with artifact integrity and provenance controls

Explanation:

A controlled build pipeline creates traceability between approved source, build inputs, and resulting artifacts. Integrity verification, provenance records, protected builders, and signed releases can strengthen confidence that production binaries have not been altered. Manual builds on unmanaged systems provide weaker assurance and make it difficult to establish exactly what source and dependencies produced the deployed software.

Question 93.

What is the PRIMARY purpose of security regression testing?

1. Verify that previously fixed vulnerabilities and security controls remain effective after changes
2. Replace functional regression testing
3. Measure developer typing speed
4. Eliminate the need for vulnerability management

Correct Answer: 1. Verify that previously fixed vulnerabilities and security controls remain effective after changes

Explanation:

Software changes can unintentionally reintroduce old vulnerabilities or break existing security controls. Security regression tests preserve test cases for previously discovered weaknesses and critical requirements so they can be rerun after modifications. Automating appropriate regression tests within CI/CD pipelines can provide rapid feedback and reduce recurrence of known security defects.

Question 94.

A software component must parse complex untrusted data formats. Which design provides the BEST defense if the parser is compromised?

1. Run the parser with full system privileges
2. Isolate the parser and grant it only the resources it requires
3. Disable input-size limits
4. Allow unrestricted outbound network access

Correct Answer: 2. Isolate the parser and grant it only the resources it requires

Explanation:

Complex parsers can contain vulnerabilities even when input validation is present. Isolation and least privilege reduce the damage an attacker can cause if parsing code is exploited. Depending on the platform, this might include sandboxing, containers, restricted service accounts, file-system controls, network limitations, and resource limits. This demonstrates defense in depth rather than relying entirely on perfect parser correctness.

Question 95.

Why is a software bill of materials useful during vulnerability response?

1. It guarantees that no vulnerable components are present
2. It replaces patch management
3. It helps determine which products contain an affected component
4. It prevents all supply-chain attacks

Correct Answer: 3. It helps determine which products contain an affected component

Explanation:

A software bill of materials provides visibility into software components and dependencies used in a product. When a vulnerability is disclosed, teams can search the inventory to identify potentially affected versions and prioritize investigation. An SBOM is an information source rather than a security control by itself. It should be combined with dependency monitoring, vulnerability assessment, and remediation processes.

Question 96.

A software product must remain secure when an external fraud-detection service is temporarily unavailable. What should the design define?

1. Automatic approval of every transaction
2. Permanent disabling of fraud checks
3. Anonymous transaction processing
4. Explicit failover or degraded-mode behavior based on transaction risk

Correct Answer: 4. Explicit failover or degraded-mode behavior based on transaction risk

Explanation:

External dependency failure should have predefined behavior. Low-risk transactions might proceed under stricter limits, while high-risk transactions may be delayed or require additional approval. Automatically approving all activity would create an obvious bypass. The design should balance business availability with fraud exposure and should include monitoring so operators know when the external service is unavailable.

Question 97.

Which activity BEST helps ensure security requirements remain valid when major software architecture changes occur?

1. Reassess requirements, threats, trust boundaries, and affected controls
2. Reuse all original assumptions without review
3. Remove security tests to speed migration
4. Stop updating threat models after initial release

Correct Answer: 1. Reassess requirements, threats, trust boundaries, and affected controls

Explanation:

Significant architecture changes can create new data flows, dependencies, attack surfaces, and trust boundaries. Requirements and controls that were appropriate for the previous design may no longer be sufficient. Reassessing security assumptions and threat models helps ensure the updated system continues to satisfy business and risk objectives. Traceability makes it easier to identify which controls and tests need revision.

Question 98.

A development team wants to reduce exposure from unused software features. Which practice is BEST?

1. Enable all optional services by default
2. Disable or remove unnecessary features, endpoints, and components
3. Give all users access to hidden functions
4. Install every available plugin

Correct Answer: 2. Disable or remove unnecessary features, endpoints, and components

Explanation:

Unused functionality increases attack surface and maintenance burden without providing business value. Removing unnecessary endpoints, services, libraries, plugins, and features reduces the number of potential vulnerabilities and simplifies testing. Required functionality should be configured securely and exposed only to authorized users. This aligns with attack-surface reduction and economy-of-mechanism principles.

Question 99.

A vulnerability report contains sensitive technical details about an unpatched production flaw. How should it be handled?

1. Publish it publicly immediately
2. Email it to all employees
3. Restrict access to authorized stakeholders while remediation and disclosure are coordinated
4. Delete the report without tracking the issue

Correct Answer: 3. Restrict access to authorized stakeholders while remediation and disclosure are coordinated

Explanation:

Detailed vulnerability information can help attackers exploit an unpatched weakness. Access should therefore be limited to people involved in assessment, remediation, risk decisions, communications, and operations. At the same time, the vulnerability must remain formally tracked rather than hidden or deleted. Disclosure decisions should follow organizational policy, legal obligations, and coordinated vulnerability-handling processes.

Question 100.

Which practice BEST represents mature secure software lifecycle management?

1. Treat security as complete after initial release
2. Apply security only to internet-facing applications
3. Depend exclusively on automated scanning
4. Continuously integrate security requirements, design, coding, verification, release, maintenance, vulnerability response, and retirement

Correct Answer: 4. Continuously integrate security requirements, design, coding, verification, release, maintenance, vulnerability response, and retirement

Explanation:

Software security extends across the entire lifecycle. Requirements establish security objectives, design addresses structural risk, secure coding reduces implementation defects, verification provides evidence, and controlled release protects production integrity. After deployment, teams must monitor vulnerabilities, dependencies, incidents, and changing threats until the product is securely retired. Mature programs combine governance, technical controls, skilled personnel, and continuous improvement.