PCNSE Palo Alto Networks Certified Security Engineer (PCNSE) PAN-OS 11.0 Questions and Answers

The engineer is configuring a DoS Protection profile to defend specific endpoints and resources against malicious activity. A DoS Protection profile is a feature that enables the firewall to detect and prevent denial-of-service (DoS) attacks that attempt to overwhelm network resources or disrupt services. A DoS Protection profile can provide granular defense against targeted flood attacks for specific critical systems that are accessed by users from the internet, such as web servers, DNS servers, or VPN gateways. A DoS Protection profile can be applied to a security policy rule that matches the traffic to and from the protected systems, and can specify the thresholds and actions for different types of flood attacks, such as SYN, UDP, ICMP, or other IP floods12. References: DoS Protection, PCNSE Study Guide (page 58)

https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/blogs/what-is-application-dependency/ba-p/344330

To create an application-based Security policy rule to allow Evernote, the administrator only needs to add the Evernote application to the Security policy rule. The Evernote application is a predefined App-ID that identifies the traffic generated by the Evernote client or web interface. The Evernote application implicitly uses SSL and web browsing as dependencies, which means that the firewall automatically allows these applications when the Evernote application is allowed. Therefore, there is no need to add HTTP, SSL, or web browsing applications to the same Security policy rule. Adding these applications would broaden the scope of the rule and potentially allow unwanted traffic12. References: App-ID Overview, Create a Security Policy Rule

https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/general-topics/what-is-a-master-device-in-device-groups/td-p/15032

https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA10g000000PMtpCAG

When using the log forwarding built-in action with tagging in Palo Alto Networks firewalls, the primary purpose is to dynamically respond to threats or unwanted traffic identified by the firewall's threat detection mechanisms. The action involves tagging the IP address associated with the unwanted traffic and then using that tag in dynamic security policies to block or manage the traffic.

A. Destination IP addresses of selected unwanted traffic are blocked:

When the tagging action is used, the firewall tags the IP addresses involved in the unwanted traffic (which could be the source or destination IP addresses, but in many configurations, the focus is on the source of the attack). These tags can then be referenced in Dynamic Address Groups (DAGs) within security policies. Consequently, any traffic coming from or going to these tagged IP addresses can be blocked or subjected to specific security rules, effectively mitigating the threat or unwanted behavior.

This approach allows for automated, real-time responses to identified threats, enhancing the security posture by quickly adapting to emerging threats without manual intervention.

SSL/TLS profile is only the TLS versions, not ciphers. Decryption Profile is for SSL Inbound and Forward Proxy applications, not mgmt of the PANW Firewall. There's also KB articles to strengthen SSH, but I couldn't find any for HTTPS, on the mgmt interface: https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA14u0000004OOQCA2 &lang=en_US%E2%80%A9

https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/content/dam/pan/en_US/assets/pdf/datasheets/education/pcnse-study-guide.pdf page 83

When administrative functions (licensing, updates) use a data plane interface, the firewall requires outbound connectivity to Palo Alto Networks servers (e.g., updates.paloaltonetworks.com) via that interface. If HTTPS/SSH work but licensing/updates fail, the issue is likely upstream blocking or misrouting. Validating upstream devices (Option B) ensures ports (e.g., 443) and destinations are accessible, resolving the issue.

When building Security rules in a Device Group that need to allow traffic to specific users and groups defined in Active Directory, it's essential to have user and group information available in Panorama to select these entities for the rules.

D. A master device with Group Mapping configured must be set in the device group where the Security rules are configured:

The concept of a "master device" in Panorama refers to a specific firewall that is designated to provide certain settings or information, such as user and group mappings from Active Directory, to Panorama. This information can then be used across other firewalls within the same device group.

By configuring Group Mapping on a master device, Panorama can leverage this information to populate user and group objects. These objects can then be used in Security rules within the device group, allowing for the creation of policies that are based on user identity and group membership, as defined in Active Directory.

This setup ensures that Panorama has the necessary context to apply user- and group-based policies accurately across the managed firewalls, facilitating centralized management and consistency in policy enforcement.

For HIP match logs to be visible on the data center firewall, the following conditions must be met:

HIP profiles added to security rules: HIP profiles must be applied to security rules on the data center firewall to enforce access restrictions based on the received HIP reports. If the HIP profiles are not associated with the security rules, the firewall will not evaluate traffic against these profiles, and consequently, no HIP match logs will be generated.

User-ID enabled on the incoming zone: User-ID must be enabled on the zone where the users are located in the data center firewall. The User-ID feature is responsible for mapping IP addresses to user names, which is critical for applying policies based on user identity and, by extension, for HIP-based policy enforcement.

The other options (A and D) are related to logging and log forwarding but would not directly impact the generation or visibility of HIP match logs on the data center firewall itself.

In the second image, VW ports mentioned are 1/5 and 1/7. Hence it can not be a part of any other routing. So if any traffic coming as ingress from 1/7, it has to go out via 1/5.

The egress interface for the traffic with ingress interface ethernet1/7, source 192.168.111.3, and destination 10.46.41.113 will be ethernet1/5. This is because the traffic will match the virtual wire with interfaces ethernet1/5 and ethernet1/7, which is configured to allow VLAN-tagged traffic with tags 10 and 201. The traffic will also match the security policy rule that allows traffic from zone Trust to zone Untrust, which are assigned to ethernet1/7 and ethernet1/5 respectively2. Therefore, the traffic will be forwarded to the same interface from which it was received, which is ethernet1/53.

A and D are the best practice deployment modes for the firewall if the company wants to add threat prevention to the network without redesigning the network routing. This is because these modes allow the firewall to act as a transparent device that does not affect the existing network topology or routing1.

A: VirtualWire mode allows the firewall to be inserted into any existing network segment without changing the IP addressing or routing of that segment2. The firewall inspects traffic between two interfaces that are configured as a pair, called a virtual wire. The firewall applies security policies to the traffic and forwards it to the same interface from which it was received2.

D: Layer 2 mode allows the firewall to act as a switch that forwards traffic based on MAC addresses3. The firewall inspects traffic between interfaces that are configured as Layer 2 interfaces and belong to the same VLAN. The firewall applies security policies to the traffic and forwards it to the appropriate interface based on the MAC address table3.

Verified References:

1: https://www.garlandtechnology.com/blog/whats-your-palo-alto-ngfw-deployment-plan

2: https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-1/pan-os-admin/networking/configure-interfaces/virtual-wire.html

3: https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-1/pan-os-admin/networking/configure-interfaces/layer-2.html

Palo Alto Networks recommends starting SSL decryption with High Risk categories (Option B) because they’re more likely to contain threats (e.g., malware, phishing) that require visibility for inspection, balancing security and resource use.

Set the Action to take when matching a packet:

Forward—Directs the packet to the specified Egress Interface.

Forward to VSYS (On a firewall enabled for multiple virtual systems)—Select the virtual system to which to forward the packet.

Discard—Drops the packet.

No PBF—Excludes packets that match the criteria for source, destination, application, or service defined in the rule. Matching packets use the route table instead of PBF; the firewall uses the route table to exclude the matched traffic from the redirected port.

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-1/pan-os-admin/policy/policy-based-forwarding/create-a-policy-based-forwarding-rule#ideca3cc65-03d7-449d-b47a-90fabee5293c

The template stack should consist of four templates arranged according to the diagram. The template values that will be configured on the firewall if each template has an SSL/TLS Service profile configured named Management will be the values in Chicago. This is because the SSL/TLS Service profile is configured in the Chicago template, which is the highest priority template in the stack. The firewall will inherit the settings from the highest priority template that has the setting configured, and ignore the settings from the lower priority templates that have the same setting configured. Therefore, the values in Datacenter, efwOlab.chi, and Global Settings will not be applied to the firewall. References:

[Manage Templates and Template Stacks]

[Template Stack Configuration]

[Template Stack Priority]

To determine which sources an engineer can use to gather information about application patterns for creating custom signatures, let’s analyze each option based on PAN-OS 11.0 documentation and typical network troubleshooting practices.

A. Traffic Logs

Why It’s Correct:

Traffic logs in PAN-OS provide details about all traffic flowing through the firewall, including:

Application details.

Source and destination IPs.

Ports used.

This data is essential for identifying patterns, such as specific ports, protocols, or behaviors associated with an application.

How to Use:

Navigate to Monitor > Logs > Traffic in the web interface.

Look for the relevant application traffic and note recurring patterns.

Documentation Reference:

PAN-OS 11.0 Admin Guide, Logging and Reporting Section: Discusses traffic logs as a resource for application and behavior analysis.

B. Data Filtering Logs

Why It’s Incorrect:

Data filtering logs focus on inspecting files, data patterns, or sensitive information such as credit card numbers. These logs are not designed for gathering application-specific traffic patterns.

Documentation Reference:

PAN-OS 11.0 Admin Guide: Details how data filtering logs are used for content inspection, not for creating application signatures.

C. Policy Optimizer

Why It’s Incorrect:

Policy Optimizer helps refine security policies by identifying unused or overly permissive rules. It does not provide information about traffic patterns for applications.

Documentation Reference:

PAN-OS 11.0 Admin Guide, Policy Optimization Section: Focuses on rule management rather than traffic pattern analysis.

D. Wireshark

Why It’s Correct:

Wireshark is a powerful network protocol analyzer that captures and analyzes traffic at a granular level. Engineers can:

Identify application-specific headers or payloads.

Examine protocol behaviors.

Spot unique signatures in application traffic.

How to Use:

Capture traffic flowing to/from the application using a span or mirrored port on the switch or firewall.

Analyze the captured packets for recurring patterns (e.g., specific headers or payload data).

Documentation Reference:

While not directly mentioned in PAN-OS documentation, Wireshark is commonly recommended as a tool for packet analysis in custom application signature creation.

Summary of Correct Choices

Traffic Logs:

Provides a high-level view of application behavior and network patterns.

Wireshark:

Allows deep packet inspection and analysis for identifying unique application behaviors.

PAN-OS 11.0 Study Guide References

PCNSA Study Guide:

Domain 3: Policy Evaluation and Management:

Discusses using traffic logs to refine policies and understand application behavior.

PCNSE Study Guide:

Domain 4: Securing Traffic:

Emphasizes tools like Wireshark for advanced traffic and application analysis.

To block users dynamically based on threat log activity, dynamic user groups (DUGs) with tagging provide an automated solution. Option B configures a DUG with a "malicious" tag, a Log Forwarding profile to tag users in the threat log (e.g., via threat intelligence), and a Security policy to block the tagged group. This leverages User-ID and is ideal for user-based blocking.

When troubleshooting Palo Alto Networks services, such as dynamic updates, verifying the status of service routes is critical. Service routes determine how the firewall communicates with external services (e.g., Palo Alto Networks update servers, WildFire, DNS, etc.) from the Management Plane or data plane interfaces.

Why "debug dataplane internal vif route 250" is Correct

Purpose of the Command:

This command allows administrators to view the service routes configured on the firewall and verify if they are installed correctly and actively working.

The number 250 specifically refers to service routes in the Management Plane.

Output:

The command displays detailed information about service routes, including routing decisions, source interfaces, and next-hop IPs.

Helps identify issues such as:

Incorrect interface configuration.

Invalid next-hop IPs.

Missing routes for specific services.

Analysis of Other Options

debug dataplane internal vif route 255

Incorrect:

The number 255 does not correspond to service routes but is used for internal route debugging unrelated to management plane service routes.

show routing route type management

Incorrect:

This command does not exist in PAN-OS CLI. It might be a misrepresentation of another command.

debug dataplane internal vif route 250

Correct:

As explained above, this is the correct command for verifying service routes in the Management Plane.

show routing route type service-route

Incorrect:

This is not a valid PAN-OS CLI command.

PAN-OS Documentation Reference

Service Routes in PAN-OS 11.0:

The configuration and verification of service routes are covered under the Device > Setup > Services section of the GUI.

For CLI, the debug dataplane internal vif route 250 command is specifically used for troubleshooting service routes in the Management Plane.

For more details, refer to:

PAN-OS 11.0 CLI Guide: Covers debugging tools and service route verification.

PCNSA Study Guide: Domain 1 includes service route configurations and their importance in maintaining connectivity for management services.

The GlobalProtect VPN solution by Palo Alto Networks is designed to provide secure remote access to users. It primarily attempts to establish a VPN tunnel using the IPSec protocol for optimal security and performance. However, in cases where IPSec cannot be used due to network restrictions or other issues, GlobalProtect has a fallback mechanism.

C. It tries to establish a tunnel to the GlobalProtect gateway using SSL/TLS:

If the GlobalProtect app fails to establish an IPSec tunnel with the GlobalProtect gateway, the default behavior is to fallback to SSL/TLS for tunnel establishment. This ensures that the VPN connection can still be established, maintaining secure remote access for the user even in environments where IPSec is not feasible. SSL/TLS provides a secure tunnel, albeit generally with slightly less efficiency than IPSec.

This fallback mechanism is part of the GlobalProtect app's design to ensure reliability and continuous secure access for remote users under various network conditions.

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/panorama/9-1/panorama-admin/panorama-overview/centralized-firewall-configuration-and-update-management/device-groups/device-group-hierarchy

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/panorama/9-1/panorama-admin/manage-firewalls/manage-device-groups/manage-unused-shared-objects

https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA10g000000Cm1CCAS

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-1/pan-os-admin/virtual-systems/communication-between-virtual-systems/inter-vsys-traffic-that-remains-within-the-firewall/external-zone

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-2/pan-os-admin/policy/use-address-object-to-represent-ip-addresses/address-objects

Using Policy Optimizer to migrate to application-based rules, adding the container application (Option D) ensures future-proofing. Container apps (e.g., "web-browsing") include child apps (e.g., specific web services) as signatures evolve, maintaining rule accuracy without over-matching unrelated traffic.

The cause of the unsecured website warnings is that the forward trust certificate has not been signed by the self-signed root CA certificate. The forward trust certificate is used by the firewall to generate a copy of the server certificate for outbound SSL decryption (SSL Forward Proxy). The firewall signs the copy with the forward trust certificate and presents it to the client. The client then verifies the signature using the public key of the CA that issued the forward trust certificate. If the client does not trust the CA, it will display a warning message. Therefore, the forward trust certificate must be signed by a CA that is trusted by the client. In this case, the administrator has installed the self-signed root CA certificate in all client systems, so this CA should be used to sign the forward trust certificate. However, as shown in the screenshot, the forward trust certificate has a different issuer than the self-signed root CA certificate, which means it has not been signed by it. This causes the client to reject the signature and show a warning message. To fix this issue, the administrator should generate a new forward trust certificate and sign it with the self-signed root CA certificate12. References: Keys and Certificates for Decryption Policies, How to Configure SSL Decryption

Decryption Mirror is a feature that allows a Palo Alto Networks firewall to send a copy of decrypted traffic to an external security device or tool for further analysis. The potential risk associated with Decryption Mirror is that if the firewall administrator's credentials are compromised, a malicious user could potentially access sensitive decrypted information. Hence, it's advised to be cautious and ensure proper handling of this feature.

Additionally, laws and regulations regarding the decryption, storage, inspection, and use of SSL/TLS encrypted traffic vary by country and industry. It is crucial to ensure compliance with relevant laws and best practices when using Decryption Mirror. This often requires consultation with corporate legal counsel to understand the implications and ensure that the use of such features does not violate privacy laws or regulatory requirements.

The need for administrative consent and the legal implications of using Decryption Mirror features are outlined in Palo Alto Networks' "PAN-OS® Administrator’s Guide" and best practice documentation. It is not specifically required to have a tap interface to use Decryption Mirror, which eliminates option A. Option C is incorrect because it is not just management consent but legal compliance that needs to be considered.

A, C, and D are the correct answers because they are the parts of a template that an engineer can configure in Panorama. A template is a collection of device and network settings that can be pushed to multiple firewalls from Panorama1. A template can contain settings such as2:

A: NTP Server Address: This is the address of the Network Time Protocol server that synchronizes the time on the firewall.

C: Authentication Profile: This is the profile that defines how the firewall authenticates users and administrators.

D: Service Route Configuration: This is the configuration that specifies which interface and source IP address the firewall uses to access external services, such as DNS, email, syslog, etc.

The SSL/TLS Service Profile (Option A) defines ciphers and protocols for management access (e.g., HTTPS GUI, API), allowing specific cipher suites to be enforced.

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/wildfire/10-2/wildfire-admin/wildfire-overview/wildfire-concepts/verdicts

Each WildFire cloud—global (U.S.), regional, and private—analyzes samples and generates WildFire verdicts independently of the other WildFire clouds. With the exception of WildFire private cloud verdicts, WildFire verdicts are shared globally, enabling WildFire users to access a worldwide database of threat data. https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/wildfire/10-1/wildfire-admin/wildfire-overview/wildfire-concepts/verdicts.html

A template is a set of configuration options that can be applied to one or more firewalls or virtual systems managed by Panorama. A template can include settings from the Device and Network tabs on the firewall web interface, such as login banner, SSL decryption exclusion, and dynamic updates4. These settings can be configured in a template named “Global” and included in all template stacks. A template stack is a group of templates that Panorama pushes to managed firewalls in an ordered hierarchy4. References: Manage Templates and Template Stacks, PCNSE Study Guide (page 50)

In a High Availability (HA) configuration, particularly in an active-passive setup, it's crucial that the passive unit is kept up to date with the current state of the active unit. This ensures a seamless transition in the event of a failover. The HA4 interface is dedicated to this synchronization task.

D. Perform synchronization of sessions, forwarding tables, and IPSec security associations between firewalls in an HA pair:

The HA4 interface is responsible for the synchronization of critical stateful information between the active and passive units in an HA pair. This includes session information, ensuring that the passive unit can continue existing sessions without interruption if it needs to become active.

In addition to session information, HA4 also synchronizes forwarding tables, which contain information on how to route packets, and IPSec security associations, which are necessary for maintaining secure VPN tunnels.

This synchronization ensures that both units in an HA pair have identical information regarding the current state of the network, sessions, and security associations, enabling a smooth and immediate transition to the passive unit in case the active unit fails.

For log forwarding in PAN-OS, traffic and threat logs require a Log Forwarding profile attached to Security rules (Option B) to send logs to external systems (e.g., syslog, Panorama). Without this, logs are stored locally but not forwarded, a critical design consideration.

Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS) ensures unique session keys per VPN session, enabled under the IKE Gateway advanced options (Option A) by selecting a Diffie-Hellman (DH) group. This resolves Phase 2 mismatches if the peer requires PFS.

For explicit Web Proxy deployment on PAN-OS, Palo Alto Networks currently supports Kerberos and SAML as authentication methods. RADIUS is not supported for explicit or transparent Web Proxy authentication on Palo Alto Networks appliances, which means that if the client is currently using RADIUS, they will need to configure an alternate supported authentication method. LDAP or TACACS+ authentication is not directly supported for Web Proxy authentication in PAN-OS.For more information on supported Web Proxy authentication methods, please refer to the latest Palo Alto Networks "PAN-OS® Web Interface Reference Guide".

To address the issue of application performance degradation due to excessive VoIP traffic, the administrator should configure QoS on the egress interface for the traffic flows and a QoS profile defining traffic classes. QoS stands for Quality of Service, which is a feature that allows the firewall to manage bandwidth usage and prioritize traffic based on various criteria, such as application, user, service, etc. QoS can help improve the performance and quality of latency-sensitive applications, such as VoIP, by guaranteeing them sufficient bandwidth and priority over other traffic1.

To enable QoS on the firewall, the administrator needs to create a QoS profile and a QoS policy. A QoS profile defines the eight classes of service that traffic can receive, including priority, guaranteed bandwidth, maximum bandwidth, and weight. A QoS policy identifies the traffic that matches a specific class of service based on source and destination zones, addresses, users, applications, services, etc2. The administrator can also create a custom QoS profile or use the default one.

The administrator should apply QoS on the egress interface for the traffic flows, which is the interface where the traffic leaves the firewall. This is because QoS can only shape outbound traffic and not inbound traffic. The egress interface can be either internal or external, depending on the direction of the VoIP traffic. For example, if the VoIP traffic is from internal users to external servers, then the egress interface is the untrust interface facing the ISP. If the VoIP traffic is from external users to internal servers, then the egress interface is the trust interface facing the LAN3.

The administrator should assign a high priority and a sufficient guaranteed bandwidth to the VoIP traffic in the QoS profile. This will ensure that the VoIP packets are processed first by the firewall and are not dropped or delayed due to congestion. The administrator can also limit or block other applications that consume too much bandwidth or pose security risks in the same or different QoS classes4.

An Application Override policy for SIP traffic is not necessary to address this issue. An Application Override policy is used to change or customize the App-ID of certain traffic based on port and protocol criteria. This can be useful for optimizing performance or security for some applications that are difficult to identify or have non-standard behaviors. However, SIP is a predefined App-ID that identifies Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) traffic, which is commonly used for VoIP signaling. The firewall can recognize SIP traffic without an Application Override policy5.

QoS on the ingress interface for the traffic flows is not effective to address this issue. As mentioned earlier, QoS can only shape outbound traffic and not inbound traffic. Applying QoS on the ingress interface will not have any impact on how the firewall handles or prioritizes the incoming packets6.

A QoS policy for each application is not required to address this issue. A QoS policy can match multiple applications in a single rule by using application filters or application groups. This can simplify and consolidate the QoS policy configuration and management. The administrator does not need to create a separate QoS policy for each application unless there is a specific need to assign different classes of service or parameters to each application7.

References: QoS Overview, Configure QoS, QoS Use Cases, QoS Best Practices, Application Override, QoS FAQ, Create a QoS Policy Rule

https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA10g000000PNGFCA4

Cisco TrustSec technology uses Security Group Tags (SGTs) to enforce access controls on Layer 2 traffic. When implementing Zone Protection on a Palo Alto Networks firewall in an environment with Cisco TrustSec, you should configure Ethernet SGT Protection. This setting ensures that the firewall can recognize SGTs in Ethernet frames and apply the appropriate actions based on the configured policies.The use of Ethernet SGT Protection in conjunction with TrustSec is covered in advanced firewall configuration documentation and in interoperability guides between Palo Alto Networks and Cisco systems.

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-2/pan-os-admin/zone-protection-and-dos-protection/zone-defense/packet-buffer-protection

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/9-1/pan-os-web-interface-help/policies/policies-application-override

https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA10g000000PPDrCAO

https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/kCSArticleDetail?id=kA10g000000PMiD

When implementing an application override in a Palo Alto Networks firewall, the primary goal is to explicitly define how specific traffic is identified and processed by the firewall, bypassing the regular App-ID process. This is particularly useful for traffic that might be misidentified by App-ID or for applications that require special handling for performance reasons.

To successfully implement application override, the following items must be configured:

B. Application override policy rule:This is a specialized policy rule that you create to specify the criteria for the traffic you want to override. In this rule, you define the source and destination zones, addresses, and ports. Instead of relying on the App-ID engine to identify the application, the firewall uses the criteria defined in the application override policy to classify the traffic.

C. Security policy rule:After defining an application override policy, you must also configure a security policy rule to allow the overridden traffic through the firewall. This rule specifies the action (allow, deny, drop, etc.) for the traffic that matches the application override policy. It's essential to ensure that the security policy rule matches the traffic defined in the application override policy to ensure that the intended traffic is allowed through the firewall.

For detailed guidance on configuring application override and the necessary security policies, refer to the official Palo Alto Networks documentation. This resource provides step-by-step instructions and best practices for effectively managing traffic using application overrides.

The firewalls exchange hello messages and heartbeats at configurable intervals to verify that the peer firewall is responsive and operational. Hello messages are sent from one peer to the other to verify the state of the firewall. The heartbeat is an ICMP ping to the HA peer. A response from the peer indicates that the firewalls are connected and responsive.

https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA10g000000ClUcCAK

"A "heartbeat-interval" CLI command was added to the election settings for HA, this interval has a 1000ms minimum for all Palo Alto Networks platforms and is an ICMP ping to the other device through the HA control link." https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA10g000000ClMaCAK

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/9-1/pan-os-new-features/user-id-features/dynamic-user-groups

Use the dynamic user group in a policy to regulate traffic for the members of the group. You will need to configure at least two rules: one to allow initial traffic to populate the dynamic user group and one to deny traffic for the activity you want to prevent (in this case, questionable-activity). To tag users, the rule to allow traffic must have a higher rule number in your rulebase than the rule that denies traffic.

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-2/pan-os-admin/policy/use-dynamic-user-groups-in-policy

https://live.paloaltonetworks.com/t5/panorama-discussions/panorama-force-template-value-option/td-p/496620 "- Force Template Value will as the name suggest remove any local configuratio and apply the value define the panorama template. But this is valid only for overlapping configuration" "You need to be careful, what is actually defined in the template. For example - if you decide to enable HA in the template, but after that you decide to not push it with template and just disable it again (remove the check from the "Enable HA" checkbox). This still will be part of the template, because now your template is explicitely defining HA disabled. If you made a change in the template, and later decide that you don't want to control this setting with template, you need to revert the config by clicking the green bar next to the changed value"

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/11-0/pan-os-new-features/networking-features/ipsec-transport-mode

The linked documentation outlines new features for IPSec transport mode in PAN-OS 11.0 and clarifies the requirements for configuring IPSec in transport mode. Based on this:

Auto-Generated Key:

The documentation specifies that IPSec in transport mode requires an auto-generated key during the IKE negotiation process. This ensures the integrity and encryption of the communication channel.

Verdict: Correct.

NAT Traversal:

NAT Traversal is only relevant when NAT is present between the IPSec peers. It is not an inherent requirement for IPSec transport mode.

Verdict: Not correct.

IKEv1:

While IKE (v1 or v2) is required for IPSec, the question specifically asks for transport mode requirements, and IKEv1 is not listed as a strict transport mode requirement in the documentation.

Verdict: Not correct.

DH-group 20 (ECP-384 bits):

The documentation mentions that DH-group 20 (Elliptic Curve Protocol, 384-bit) is one of the required Diffie-Hellman groups for transport mode. This ensures secure key exchange.

Verdict: Correct.

Correct Answer

Based on the documentation: A. Auto Generated KeyD. DH-group 20 (ECP-384 bits)

Why This Answer is Correct

Auto-generated key is fundamental to secure communication in transport mode, as stated in the PAN-OS 11.0 documentation.

DH-group 20 ensures a high level of cryptographic strength for key exchange, making it a specific requirement for transport mode in this context.

Reference

For more details, refer to the PAN-OS 11.0 IPSec Transport Mode documentation: IPSec Transport Mode

To determine the egress interface a Palo Alto Networks firewall will use to route a specific IP address, the appropriate command is test routing fib-lookup ip 10.2.5.3 virtual-router default. This command performs a Forwarding Information Base (FIB) lookup for the specified IP address within the context of the specified virtual router, which in this case is the default virtual router. The FIB lookup process checks the routing table and the associated forwarding information to determine the next-hop and the egress interface for the given IP address. This command is instrumental for troubleshooting and verifying routing decisions made by the firewall to ensure that traffic is routed as expected through the network infrastructure.

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/11-0/pan-os-admin/virtual-systems/customize-service-routes-for-a-virtual-system/customize-service-routes-to-services-for-virtual-systems

In PAN-OS, the Log Forwarding object under Objects configures forwarding for Authentication (Option B) and User-ID (Option C) logs, among others, to external systems (e.g., syslog servers).

WildFire logs showing a "malicious" verdict with an "allow" action indicate that the initial traffic wasn’t blocked in real-time, likely because the Antivirus profile isn’t configured to act immediately on WildFire verdicts. By default, WildFire submits files for analysis, and signatures may take up to 24 hours to propagate globally unless real-time blocking is enabled. Configuring the Antivirus security profile (Option B) to "block" on malicious WildFire verdicts ensures that threats are blocked within minutes once the verdict is returned (typically 5-15 minutes), leveraging WildFire’s real-time signature updates.

https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA10g000000ClG2CAK

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/pan-os/10-0/pan-os-admin/app-id/disable-the-sip-application-level-gateway-alg

User-ID is a feature that allows the firewall to identify and classify users and groups on the network based on their usernames, IP addresses, and other attributes1. User-ID information can be collected from various sources, such as:

A: Windows User-ID agent: A software agent that runs on a Windows server and collects user information from Active Directory domain controllers, Exchange servers, or eDirectory servers2. The agent then sends the user information to the firewall or Panorama for user mapping2.

B: GlobalProtect: A software agent that runs on the endpoints and provides secure VPN access to the network3. GlobalProtect also collects user information from the endpoints and sends it to the firewall or Panorama for user mapping4.

C: XMLAPI: An application programming interface that allows external systems or scripts to send user information to the firewall or Panorama in XML format. The XMLAPI can be used to integrate with third-party systems, such as identity providers, captive portals, or custom applications.

The two key exchange algorithms that consume the most resources when decrypting SSL traffic are ECDHE and DHE. These are both Diffie-Hellman based algorithms that enable perfect forward secrecy (PFS), which means that they generate a new and unique session key for each SSL/TLS session, and do not reuse any previous keys. This enhances the security of the encrypted communication, but also increases the computational cost and complexity of the key exchange process. ECDHE stands for Elliptic Curve Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral, which uses elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) to generate the session key. DHE stands for Diffie-Hellman Ephemeral, which uses modular arithmetic to generate the session key. Both ECDHE and DHE require more CPU and memory resources than RSA, which is a non-PFS algorithm that uses public and private keys to encrypt and decrypt the session key123. References: Key Exchange Algorithms, Best Practices for Enabling SSL Decryption, PCNSE Study Guide (page 60)

https://docs.paloaltonetworks.com/globalprotect/9-1/globalprotect-admin/globalprotect-gateways/split-tunnel-traffic-on-globalprotect-gateways/configure-a-split-tunnel-based-on-the-domain-and-application

https://knowledgebase.paloaltonetworks.com/KCSArticleDetail?id=kA10g000000ClhzCAC

D is the correct answer because the threat log type would provide information about traffic blocked by a Zone Protection profile. This is because Zone Protection profiles are used to protect the network from attacks, including common flood, reconnaissance attacks, and other packet-based attacks1. These attacks are classified as threats by the firewall and are logged in the threat log2. The threat log displays information such as the source and destination IP addresses, ports, zones, applications, threat types, actions, and severity of the threats2.

Verified References:

1: Zone protection profiles - Palo Alto Networks Knowledge Base

2: Threat Log Fields - Palo Alto Networks