Web Communication Security GSEC Practice Questions (Page 1)

Questions 1–5

1. 1expert · hard

   A company runs a web application behind a web application firewall (WAF). The WAF is blocking a legitimate user who is submitting a form with a long text field that contains special characters. The user's request is being flagged as a potential SQL injection. The application team confirms the input is properly parameterized and safe. What is the best way to handle this false positive?

   • AAsk the user to encode the special characters manually.
   • BRefine the WAF rule to reduce false positives while still blocking actual SQL injection attempts.
   • CDisable the WAF entirely.
   • DAdd a rule to allow the specific user's IP address to bypass the WAF for that request.
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2. 2application · medium

   A web administrator is configuring a new server for a public website. The administrator wants to ensure that the server only supports strong cipher suites and that the certificate chain is complete. Which action is most important for ensuring the server's TLS configuration is secure?

   • AUse a certificate with a long validity period to reduce renewal frequency.
   • BEnable SSLv3 for compatibility with older clients.
   • CConfigure the server to use only TLS 1.2 or higher and disable weak cipher suites.
   • DSet the certificate's private key to be readable by all users.
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4. 3application · medium

   A web developer is implementing session management for a banking application. The security team requires that session tokens cannot be stolen via cross-site scripting (XSS) and that the session cannot be hijacked by an attacker who captures the token over the network. Which two cookie attributes should be set on the session cookie?

   • APath=/ and Expires=Session
   • BMax-Age=3600 and SameSite=Lax
   • CSameSite=Strict and Domain=bank.com
   • DHttpOnly and Secure
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5. 4application · medium

   A small e-commerce company recently deployed a new web application. Customers are reporting that their browsers show a warning when they visit the site, and some refuse to proceed. The site is hosted on a single server with a public IP. The administrator checks the certificate and finds it is self-signed. What is the most likely cause of the browser warning, and what should the administrator do to resolve it?

   • AThe certificate is not trusted by the browser's root store; install a certificate signed by a publicly trusted CA.
   • BThe server is using TLS 1.0, which browsers no longer support; enable TLS 1.2 or higher.
   • CThe certificate's private key is too short; generate a new key pair with at least 2048 bits and reissue the certificate.
   • DThe certificate has expired; renew it with the same CA to restore trust.
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6. 5expert · hard

   A security analyst is reviewing the TLS configuration of a web server. The server supports TLS 1.2 and 1.3, but the analyst notices that the server allows renegotiation. The analyst is concerned about a potential renegotiation attack. Which action should the analyst take?

   • ADisable TLS renegotiation on the server.
   • BUse a longer key length for the certificate.
   • CAdd HSTS to the server configuration.
   • DEnable TLS 1.3 only.
   Reveal Solution Discussion Select an answer first